A government watchdog unlike any before it, the quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is the brainchild of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.
I liken DOGE's activity to a police investigation. They put yellow tape around the crime scene and booted everyone from the area so they can conduct their investigation.
They did it in blitzkrieg fashion to ensure that the agencies didn't have time to cover their tracks.
The ultimate aim is to embarrass the left, while also neutralizing the ability of the democrat party to use taxpayer funds to advance their ideology.
I suspect we will ultimately uncover what is nothing more than a thinly-disguised WPA for liberal activists.
There is precedent for DOGE. The Grace Commission and the Base Closure Commission come to mind. I think there was something back in the Eisenhower years too. Clinton launched Al Gore into an effort that ended in elimination of hundreds of thousands of Federal jobs. The Church Committee brought a different sort of accountability to the bureaucracy (which is needed again). Ditto for the Warren Commission.
The difference is that all of these earlier efforts were Establishment designs and depended on the bureaucracy for basic data and so never got to the bottom of everything. Not so with Elon's war band which extracts data directly from the systems that the government uses to operate. This is a more reliable but also more dangerous way to proceed. The latter is mitigated by the fact that Elon doesn't actually have the power to do anything other than analyze and expose. That power lies with Department heads, duly confirmed by Congress, and ultimately with Congress itself should they choose to assert it.
This this this. The *idea* of a DOGE is great. My guess from polling and focus groups is that it enjoys universal popularity amongst voters. Congress should create it the traditional, legal way and the president should put a competent leader with a record relatively free of corruption and no conflicts of interest in charge of it. Instead the concept of it is being executed in a way that the vast, vast majority of Americans do not support by two very odious men largely in it to acquire more power for themselves. (Republicans may say they like it in large numbers when polled, but that’s only because of whose involved—replace Trump with AOC or Hillary Clinton and Musk with George Soros and that support would drop to virtually nothing)
DOGE is uncovering waste, and is exposing the failure of congress.
My wife and I are retired. I have created a spreadsheet of our income and expenditures. EVERY expenditure is entered, even one for 7 cents. Once you get the spreadsheet going, it is little effort---maybe a minute per day.
Then at the end of the month we review our expenditures to see if they went where we want them to go (one note: probably some people would say that too much goes to grandchildren, but hey, they are better than a Caribbean cruise).
We have total control over our finances in this way.
But our country?
One entry we have in our spreadsheet is for state taxes and another for federal taxes. Next year I'll add another two lines: One will say federal taxes that go to fraud and the other will say federal taxes that are wasted.
This should be taught in high school! Way before kids sign up for student loans, they should understand how much it's going to cost them and for how many years.
Studies showed that when student loans were put on hold that what happened is that those owing money on student loans ran up large credit card bills! In other words, the problem for them is that they are irresponsible with money.
Right--teach it in high school. Teach it at home.
In the 50s my father would loan me money to buy arrows (I was always breaking them or not being able to find them), and then had to pay the loan back by selling Wallace Brown greeting cards door to door. I was 9 years old. He was teaching me something about taking out loans and systematically paying them back.
(by the way, mom and dad....I miss you every day, and you were my role models for being parents).
1. She learned about budgeting and keeping track in high school, in Home Ec.
2. When she was 12 she babysat for two toddlers every morning during the summer, for 25 cents an hour (1962). Over the course of the summer, working every week day, she saved $52. Not spending any of it. It all went into her college fund bank account, and she withdrew it when she was in college for expenses needed for her major.
If Trump doesn't back down on the tariff front, leave an entry for new federal taxes that won't show up on the tax returns, while we ponder the strangeness of the fact that these new taxes (along with the old ones Trump introduced that Biden didn't bother to repeal) will be designed largely to get us to buy something that doesn't exist--domestic substitutes for imported finished goods--and to rip up the supply lines that we just finished repairing after the pandemic decimated them all. (Because I guess those are causes worth sacrificing for?)
You are echoing what I've been writing for three years. I actually wrote a piece right after the first impeachment called "The Suicide of the House is Complete." Pelosi's idiotic and hateful impeachment stripped away one of the two really serious powers of the House, impeachment and the budget. Both Rs and Ds for over a decade have refused to provide a budget. Guess what? If you act like a child, don't do your chores, don't clean up, then engage in frivolous crap like the impeachments, you have no power. Unfortunately, I see no way the House gets this back soon because a) DOGE is going to be incredibly effective, and b) people will say, "Why do we need these idiots in Congress?" Ds have no idea what it's like to be "bipartisan." Whereas Biden's cabinet often passed on votes of 98-0, Trump's cabinet picks very seldom got even ONE Democrat. To succeed, the House needs to start putting out budgets that show real cuts and NOT more Uke aid spending. We'll see if they can do it. My guess is, DOGE lasts longer than Congress.
DOGE is doing well in shining a light on much of the wasteful spending, maybe what we need to take the axe to is the omnibus spending bills. By putting everything into one big bill congress is forced to sign on to waste, fraud, and most of all pork.
Unfortunately when these kinds of things happen the pork is most heavily defended and the widows and orphans type spending is often cut.
It seems like living in the richest country in the world we shouldn't be paying interest as large as our military spending, and the budget proposal out of congress asks us to approve a couple trillion more in debt. I don't understand why we can't have smart people finding and eliminating crazy ridiculous spending, and also have everyone live in a house even if it's the nut house. Or why can't we simply pay off our debt with taxes?
This is yet another argument for process over results. The processes have captured our institutions. We can’t audit, we can't build, we can't afford to open businesses, we can't settle court cases. Nothing can be done because the processes were created to hold everything in place. Yes, we need order. However, the American people have waited and waited and would still be waiting. The buck(s) has to stop somewhere. Now is as good as time as any.
How about if these programs are so important, congress sits down and reauthorizes them? Why would any sane person want to give DOGE results to congress for them to act on? They stopped doing that a like time ago.
"Even if the waste uncovered is miniscule (SP) in government terms, it will be used as a pretext to go after whole programs"
In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, antisocial behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.[1] The theory suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes, such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking and fare evasion, help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness.
My job includes working with the Small Business Administration. We just leaned that there are 720 employees losing their job... early retirement and layoffs. Then I was told this is 20% of the workforce. I had absolutely no idea in my 20 years in this job that SBA had 3600 employees.
This reduction will likely adversely impact my business, but I support the moves as the agency has been showing a lot of bureaucratic bloat and regulatory excess. This is how private industry does it... cutting 10% or 20% of staffing, offering early retirement and severance and clearing out the deadwood. The process is disruptive and breaks some service levels... but it is needed to get the organization back to being healthy.
“DOGE operatives have accessed the Treasury’s federal payment system, something no private citizen should be able to do.” It’s my understanding that the “DOGE operatives “ have all been hired and are federal employees. A multitude of other federal employees have access to all these systems and no one objects. The larger point is that in the entire federal government, there is only one elected official. The constitution gives that one official control of the federal bureaucracy, neither of the other two branches of government can limit his authority to hire or fire, or review. I’m sure we’ll see this tested before the Supreme Court at some point as well as the President’s right to impoundment, but I don’t like fuzzy articles that pass over these important issues.
An excellent, balanced analysis. I’ll add that the fundamental problem is that the federal government is so large and complex that no individual can possibly understand and monitor all of its myriad components, and Congress is composed of individuals. I’m not advocating that the federal government should be shrunk to its size in 1790, and agree with the author’s recommendations for more credible oversight.
Casey, I'm confused. Isn't it Congress's job to approve expenditures, but then the Executive Branch's job to oversee the implementation of the program and the expenditures associated with that program. Doesn't the GAO just confuse that basic division between Congress and the Executive Branch of the Federal Government? It seems to me that Trump, through DOGE and Elon Musk, is asserting the authority that the executive branch has always had. Perhaps GOA should just go away as a poor substitute for taking on the responsibility of the President and Executive Branch.
Interesting to note, though, that two of the examples featured as "DOGE findings" in this post were actually (per one of the links provided) publicized as early as last December by Sen. Rand Paul.
DOGE is, in fact, fully authorized by Congress. It is the United States Digital Service, established to monitor and streamline USG IT. It was formed during the Obama Administration after the failed rollout of the Affordable Care Act websites. The intent was to circumvent federal hiring laws to bring people with tech expertise into government without making them civil servants. Trump has merely modified and expanded its role.
DOGE reports to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It's also authorized and funded by Congress. In addition to preparing the President's budget, it's charter is to monitor federal expenditures to ensure funding (not line item appropriated, or earmarked, by Congress) is spent according to the President's priorities.
OMB in turn is part of the Executive Office of the President, along with the National Security Council, National Economic Council, etc. As such, it has no statutory personnel roster. It's all at the discretion of the White House Chief of Staff. Remember her.
I liken DOGE's activity to a police investigation. They put yellow tape around the crime scene and booted everyone from the area so they can conduct their investigation.
They did it in blitzkrieg fashion to ensure that the agencies didn't have time to cover their tracks.
The ultimate aim is to embarrass the left, while also neutralizing the ability of the democrat party to use taxpayer funds to advance their ideology.
I suspect we will ultimately uncover what is nothing more than a thinly-disguised WPA for liberal activists.
Looks like DOGE should look at what the 3,000+ employees at GAO are doing.
There is precedent for DOGE. The Grace Commission and the Base Closure Commission come to mind. I think there was something back in the Eisenhower years too. Clinton launched Al Gore into an effort that ended in elimination of hundreds of thousands of Federal jobs. The Church Committee brought a different sort of accountability to the bureaucracy (which is needed again). Ditto for the Warren Commission.
The difference is that all of these earlier efforts were Establishment designs and depended on the bureaucracy for basic data and so never got to the bottom of everything. Not so with Elon's war band which extracts data directly from the systems that the government uses to operate. This is a more reliable but also more dangerous way to proceed. The latter is mitigated by the fact that Elon doesn't actually have the power to do anything other than analyze and expose. That power lies with Department heads, duly confirmed by Congress, and ultimately with Congress itself should they choose to assert it.
This this this. The *idea* of a DOGE is great. My guess from polling and focus groups is that it enjoys universal popularity amongst voters. Congress should create it the traditional, legal way and the president should put a competent leader with a record relatively free of corruption and no conflicts of interest in charge of it. Instead the concept of it is being executed in a way that the vast, vast majority of Americans do not support by two very odious men largely in it to acquire more power for themselves. (Republicans may say they like it in large numbers when polled, but that’s only because of whose involved—replace Trump with AOC or Hillary Clinton and Musk with George Soros and that support would drop to virtually nothing)
Well said.
I appreciate balance in reporting. Thanks.
DOGE is uncovering waste, and is exposing the failure of congress.
My wife and I are retired. I have created a spreadsheet of our income and expenditures. EVERY expenditure is entered, even one for 7 cents. Once you get the spreadsheet going, it is little effort---maybe a minute per day.
Then at the end of the month we review our expenditures to see if they went where we want them to go (one note: probably some people would say that too much goes to grandchildren, but hey, they are better than a Caribbean cruise).
We have total control over our finances in this way.
But our country?
One entry we have in our spreadsheet is for state taxes and another for federal taxes. Next year I'll add another two lines: One will say federal taxes that go to fraud and the other will say federal taxes that are wasted.
Better add lines for state taxes that are fraud and waste too. And don't forget local government.
Oh jeez. You're right!
This should be taught in high school! Way before kids sign up for student loans, they should understand how much it's going to cost them and for how many years.
Studies showed that when student loans were put on hold that what happened is that those owing money on student loans ran up large credit card bills! In other words, the problem for them is that they are irresponsible with money.
Right--teach it in high school. Teach it at home.
In the 50s my father would loan me money to buy arrows (I was always breaking them or not being able to find them), and then had to pay the loan back by selling Wallace Brown greeting cards door to door. I was 9 years old. He was teaching me something about taking out loans and systematically paying them back.
(by the way, mom and dad....I miss you every day, and you were my role models for being parents).
Showed this to my wife. Here is her story:
1. She learned about budgeting and keeping track in high school, in Home Ec.
2. When she was 12 she babysat for two toddlers every morning during the summer, for 25 cents an hour (1962). Over the course of the summer, working every week day, she saved $52. Not spending any of it. It all went into her college fund bank account, and she withdrew it when she was in college for expenses needed for her major.
We both started young, is my point.
If Trump doesn't back down on the tariff front, leave an entry for new federal taxes that won't show up on the tax returns, while we ponder the strangeness of the fact that these new taxes (along with the old ones Trump introduced that Biden didn't bother to repeal) will be designed largely to get us to buy something that doesn't exist--domestic substitutes for imported finished goods--and to rip up the supply lines that we just finished repairing after the pandemic decimated them all. (Because I guess those are causes worth sacrificing for?)
We're leaving an entry!!!!! Good idea.
You are echoing what I've been writing for three years. I actually wrote a piece right after the first impeachment called "The Suicide of the House is Complete." Pelosi's idiotic and hateful impeachment stripped away one of the two really serious powers of the House, impeachment and the budget. Both Rs and Ds for over a decade have refused to provide a budget. Guess what? If you act like a child, don't do your chores, don't clean up, then engage in frivolous crap like the impeachments, you have no power. Unfortunately, I see no way the House gets this back soon because a) DOGE is going to be incredibly effective, and b) people will say, "Why do we need these idiots in Congress?" Ds have no idea what it's like to be "bipartisan." Whereas Biden's cabinet often passed on votes of 98-0, Trump's cabinet picks very seldom got even ONE Democrat. To succeed, the House needs to start putting out budgets that show real cuts and NOT more Uke aid spending. We'll see if they can do it. My guess is, DOGE lasts longer than Congress.
DOGE is doing well in shining a light on much of the wasteful spending, maybe what we need to take the axe to is the omnibus spending bills. By putting everything into one big bill congress is forced to sign on to waste, fraud, and most of all pork.
Unfortunately when these kinds of things happen the pork is most heavily defended and the widows and orphans type spending is often cut.
It seems like living in the richest country in the world we shouldn't be paying interest as large as our military spending, and the budget proposal out of congress asks us to approve a couple trillion more in debt. I don't understand why we can't have smart people finding and eliminating crazy ridiculous spending, and also have everyone live in a house even if it's the nut house. Or why can't we simply pay off our debt with taxes?
This is yet another argument for process over results. The processes have captured our institutions. We can’t audit, we can't build, we can't afford to open businesses, we can't settle court cases. Nothing can be done because the processes were created to hold everything in place. Yes, we need order. However, the American people have waited and waited and would still be waiting. The buck(s) has to stop somewhere. Now is as good as time as any.
How about if these programs are so important, congress sits down and reauthorizes them? Why would any sane person want to give DOGE results to congress for them to act on? They stopped doing that a like time ago.
"Even if the waste uncovered is miniscule (SP) in government terms, it will be used as a pretext to go after whole programs"
In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, antisocial behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.[1] The theory suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes, such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking and fare evasion, help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness.
My job includes working with the Small Business Administration. We just leaned that there are 720 employees losing their job... early retirement and layoffs. Then I was told this is 20% of the workforce. I had absolutely no idea in my 20 years in this job that SBA had 3600 employees.
This reduction will likely adversely impact my business, but I support the moves as the agency has been showing a lot of bureaucratic bloat and regulatory excess. This is how private industry does it... cutting 10% or 20% of staffing, offering early retirement and severance and clearing out the deadwood. The process is disruptive and breaks some service levels... but it is needed to get the organization back to being healthy.
“DOGE operatives have accessed the Treasury’s federal payment system, something no private citizen should be able to do.” It’s my understanding that the “DOGE operatives “ have all been hired and are federal employees. A multitude of other federal employees have access to all these systems and no one objects. The larger point is that in the entire federal government, there is only one elected official. The constitution gives that one official control of the federal bureaucracy, neither of the other two branches of government can limit his authority to hire or fire, or review. I’m sure we’ll see this tested before the Supreme Court at some point as well as the President’s right to impoundment, but I don’t like fuzzy articles that pass over these important issues.
An excellent, balanced analysis. I’ll add that the fundamental problem is that the federal government is so large and complex that no individual can possibly understand and monitor all of its myriad components, and Congress is composed of individuals. I’m not advocating that the federal government should be shrunk to its size in 1790, and agree with the author’s recommendations for more credible oversight.
Casey, I'm confused. Isn't it Congress's job to approve expenditures, but then the Executive Branch's job to oversee the implementation of the program and the expenditures associated with that program. Doesn't the GAO just confuse that basic division between Congress and the Executive Branch of the Federal Government? It seems to me that Trump, through DOGE and Elon Musk, is asserting the authority that the executive branch has always had. Perhaps GOA should just go away as a poor substitute for taking on the responsibility of the President and Executive Branch.
The GAO is a often called the "congressional watchdog." Its job is to ensure the government spends taxpayer money responsibly and follows the law.
Seems like the 3,000+ employees at GAO fell down on the job. Next DOGE target.
Interesting to note, though, that two of the examples featured as "DOGE findings" in this post were actually (per one of the links provided) publicized as early as last December by Sen. Rand Paul.
I'm not holding my breath.
DOGE is, in fact, fully authorized by Congress. It is the United States Digital Service, established to monitor and streamline USG IT. It was formed during the Obama Administration after the failed rollout of the Affordable Care Act websites. The intent was to circumvent federal hiring laws to bring people with tech expertise into government without making them civil servants. Trump has merely modified and expanded its role.
DOGE reports to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It's also authorized and funded by Congress. In addition to preparing the President's budget, it's charter is to monitor federal expenditures to ensure funding (not line item appropriated, or earmarked, by Congress) is spent according to the President's priorities.
OMB in turn is part of the Executive Office of the President, along with the National Security Council, National Economic Council, etc. As such, it has no statutory personnel roster. It's all at the discretion of the White House Chief of Staff. Remember her.