DOGE Failed
No cuts, no efficiency, and the creation of a surveillance state.
Headline: DOGE failed at saving taxpayers’ money but it succeeded at spying on you.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was one of Trump’s rare crossover ideas. Even in deep-blue circles, I’ve heard people say, “We have to admit—it’s a good idea.”
The pitch was simple: eliminate waste, cut fraud, and save trillions. But now, with Elon Musk stepping away and DOGE likely winding down, the verdict is in.
DOGE failed. Spectacularly. And we need to say it plainly.
TL;DR: Only 0.25% Cuts Achieved
Musk promised $2 trillion in cuts. Verifiable savings? Just $5 billion—0.25% of the original promise
Most of those cuts are one-time actions like canceled leases—not structural reforms.
Meanwhile, DOGE expanded government surveillance and cost the government more than it saved.
DOGE Failed
Elon Musk launched DOGE with bold promises—first $2 trillion in cuts, then $1 trillion. Now, with his departure, he’s dropped the math entirely, calling DOGE “a way of life, like Buddhism.”
DOGE claims $165 billion in cuts. But it’s only provided receipts for $70 billion, most of them unverifiable. The independent watchdog Musk Watch puts the real number at just $5.02 billion.
And while DOGE was slashing programs, the Trump administration increased overall government spending by 6%.
Worse still, DOGE's recklessness may cost the government $135 billion in lawsuits, inefficiencies, and lost tax revenue.
In short: DOGE might cost the U.S. money.
DOGE Did Damage
Even as it failed to deliver meaningful savings, DOGE unleashed real-world chaos. Here are just a few of the consequences:
Nuclear Security Jeopardized: DOGE laid off up to 2,000 employees from the National Nuclear Security Administration—then had to call some of them back after realizing the danger.
FAA Mayhem: Mass firings of FAA employees caused cascading flight delays and raised serious safety concerns.
USAID Dismantled: Global health programs—like HIV treatment and prevention—were gutted. Public health experts say these cuts have already cost lives.
Head Start Disrupted: Abrupt changes and office closures upended services for low-income families across the country.
Tax Enforcement Gutted: By slashing IRS resources, DOGE is projected to cost the U.S. between $500 billion and $2.4 trillion in uncollected tax revenue over the next decade.
To recap: no meaningful cuts. No structural reform. No debt reduction. Just chaos, job losses, and lasting harm.
DOGE Made It Easier to Spy on You
While the public was promised cuts and smaller government, DOGE quietly focused on consolidating data from across the federal government.
Social Security. IRS. DHS. Even voter rolls. All pulled into a centralized, cross-agency database.
Musk Watch calls it a digital panopticon—a structure that allows constant monitoring with no accountability. The risks are obvious: political targeting, biased funding decisions, identity theft, and mass surveillance.
So, not only did DOGE fail to reduce waste, but it also created a surveillance tool that makes it easier for the government to track everyone.
Why This Matters
DOGE is popular. People like the idea of rooting out government waste. Even some Democrats signaled cautious support when it launched.
Musk and Trump exploited that instinct, pointing to “transgender monkey research” and “comic books in Peru” as examples of government fraud. Almost none of it was true.
Their so-called “Wall of Receipts” was a wall of exaggerations, distortions, and lies.
And yet, despite its failures, DOGE could still help Trump politically—unless we tell the truth.
DOGE didn’t save money. It didn’t root out fraud. It didn’t shrink the government.
Here’s what it did do:
Destroyed USAID, putting millions of lives at risk.
Gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, making it easier for Musk and Trump to continue to exploit the United States.
Built a centralized surveillance database that threatens civil liberties.
Eliminated over 270,000 jobs and triggered chaos across the federal government.
Could cost taxpayers $135 billion.
It did all that without making the government more efficient or reducing the national debt.
DOGE failed the American people. It’s time to make sure they know it.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-cuts-cost-135-billion-analysis-elon-musk-department-of-government-efficiency/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/19/fact-check-is-the-us-government-spending-millions-on-transgender-monkeys
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-mischaracterizes-study-as-transgender-usda-cancels-it/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/transgender-comic-book-peru/
https://newrepublic.com/post/191825/doge-nuclear-staff-cuts-head-safety
https://fortune.com/2025/02/14/doge-firings-nuclear-weapons-specialists-energy-department-layoffs-nnsa-elon-musk/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-05-06/schumer-says-doge-cuts-hurting-the-faa-video
https://nypost.com/2025/05/08/business/bill-gates-elon-musk-killing-the-worlds-poorest-children-with-usaid-cuts/
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/can-head-start-survive-the-maga-small-era
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/doge-newsom-volunteers-20307524.php
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/thanks-to-trump-chaos-summer-just-got-more-expensive
https://democrats-budget.house.gov/resources/report/doges-mass-firings-result-gutted-services-and-higher-costs
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-collecting-immigrant-data-surveil-track/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/doge-plan-could-expose-data-of-millions-of-americans-to-hackers
https://www.wired.com/story/democratic-senators-privacy-act-reform-doge-takeover
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_to_the_Department_of_Government_Efficiency
What’s frightening is that it has been reported that Ross Vought will take over DOGE when Musk leaves.
Thanks for this. Great info and well-documented. Onward! - Ken