Surprise! DOGE's firings will cost taxpayers $135 billion

[multivita-man]

Yep. The shambolic, inept, inexperienced DOGE tweens will probably cost more than they saved.

What Elon Musk Didn’t Budget For: Firing Workers Costs Money, Too

An expert on the federal work force estimates that the speed and chaos of Mr. Musk’s cuts to the bureaucracy will cost taxpayers $135 billion this fiscal year.

www.nytimes.com

The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that studies the federal work force, has used budget figures to produce a rough estimate that firings, re-hirings, lost productivity and paid leave of thousands of workers will cost upward of $135 billion this fiscal year. At the Internal Revenue Service, a DOGE-driven exodus of 22,000 employees would cost about $8.5 billion in revenue in 2026 alone, according to figures from the Budget Lab at Yale University. The total number of departures is expected to be as many as 32,000.

Neither of these estimates includes the cost to taxpayers of defending DOGE’s moves in court. Of about 200 lawsuits and appeals related to Mr. Trump’s agenda, at least 30 implicate the department.


Needless to say: If they had actually taken their time, identified unproductive staffers and programs, and done it the right way, it wouldn't have cost this much.

Sadly, getting rid of Elmo, or counting up the cost of the damage, isn't going to change DOGE or Dear Leader one bit.

He is inflicting massive damage on the federal civil service.

 

[BirdinHand]

If total payroll is 4% of the budget annually, over a decade it’s . . . still 4% of the budget.

Gosh, you’ve gone and inserted common sense. That’s a spoiler for some folks

 

[VySky]

If the estimates are even accurate, one must take into consideration chopping dead wood comes at a cost.

 

[VySky]

He is inflicting massive damage on the federal civil service.

The Federal Civil Service needed intervention.

 

[multivita-man]

The Federal Civil Service needed intervention.

Wait for the punchline about MAGAs in the hinterland not getting services and support they once took for granted.

<shrug> Not my problem.

 

[Greenbeard]

If the estimates are even accurate, one must take into consideration chopping dead wood comes at a cost.

Most people don't consider food inspections, cancer research, child lead poisoning remediation, infectious disease containment, helping people with disabilities remain in their communities, keeping the heat on for low-income families, etc. as "dead wood."

 

[VySky]

Wait for the punchline about MAGAs in the hinterland not getting services and support they once took for granted.

<shrug> Not my problem.

Not mine either.

 

[VySky]

Most people don't consider food inspections, cancer research, child lead poisoning remediation, infectious disease containment, helping people with disabilities remain in their communities, keeping the heat on for low-income families, etc. as "dead wood."

Facts not in evidence

 

[Greenbeard]

Facts not in evidence

Food and drug inspections are not dead wood.

FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say

Food safety inspections would be left to state and local authorities under the plan being developed by the FDA.

www.cbsnews.com

Mass Layoffs Hit Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food

The cuts were part of a Trump administration plan announced last week to dismiss thousands of employees and drastically overhaul the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

www.nytimes.com

F.D.A. Firings Decimated Teams Reviewing A.I. and Food Safety

Staff units evaluating high-tech surgical robots and insulin-delivery systems were gutted by Trump layoffs even though industry fees, not taxpayers, financed the employee salaries.

www.nytimes.com

Preventing lead poisoning of kids is not dead wood.

CDC denies help for lead poisoning in Milwaukee schools due to layoffs

The CDC rejected a request for help "due to the complete loss" of their lead poisoning experts.

www.cbsnews.com

Preventing or containing infectious disease outbreaks is not dead wood.

CDC scraps plan to help Texas schools curb measles over layoffs, employee says

Some employees working on the CDC's measles response were warned they could face layoffs.

www.cbsnews.com

CDC's cruise ship inspectors laid off amid bad year for outbreaks

The steep cuts to the cruise ship inspection team baffled officials in the program, which is not paid for by taxpayer dollars.

www.cbsnews.com

Biomedical research is not dead wood.

NIH is the largest funder of cancer research. Here's how Trump administration cuts could impact patients.

The Trump administration's cuts to the National Institutes of Health has some worried about stalls in research and medicine.

www.cbsnews.com

‘Chaos and Confusion’ at the Crown Jewel of American Science

Senior scientists at the National Institutes of Health fear that research on conditions like obesity, heart disease and cancer will be undermined by President Trump’s policies.

www.nytimes.com

Drug development is not dead wood.
(WSJ) Drug Development Is Slowing Down After Cuts at the FDA

Customer service for Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries is not dead wood.
(WSJ) Hours in Line, Cut-Off Calls: Accessing Social Security in the Era of DOGE

Trump Administration and DOGE Eliminate Staff Who Help Older Adults and People With Disabilities - Medicare Rights Center

As we highlighted last week, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—the newly installed head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—have fired thousands of people across many agencies and announced plans for sweeping organizational...

www.medicarerights.org

‘Just a Mess’: Staff Cuts, Rushed Changes and Anxiety at Social Security

President Trump promised not to touch Social Security, but as Elon Musk’s team trims staff and plans cuts to phone services, the system is groaning under the pressure.

www.nytimes.com

Services for veterans are not dead wood.

She helped veterans in crisis. DOGE cuts eliminated her job.

An office manager at a VA center in Wyoming, where the veteran suicide rate is 50% higher than the national average, was fired last month despite a glowing job review.

www.nbcnews.com

Chaos at the V.A.: Inside the DOGE Cuts Disrupting the Veterans Agency

Clinical trials have been delayed, contracts canceled and support staff fired. With deeper cuts coming, some are warning of potential harms to veterans.

www.nytimes.com

Weather forecasting is not dead wood.

Weather Service Prepares for ‘Degraded Operations’ Amid Trump Cuts

An internal document describes how severe shortages of meteorologists and other staff members could affect forecasts and other operations.

www.nytimes.com

 

[VySky]

Food and drug inspections are not dead wood.

FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say

Food safety inspections would be left to state and local authorities under the plan being developed by the FDA.

www.cbsnews.com

Mass Layoffs Hit Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food

The cuts were part of a Trump administration plan announced last week to dismiss thousands of employees and drastically overhaul the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

www.nytimes.com

F.D.A. Firings Decimated Teams Reviewing A.I. and Food Safety

Staff units evaluating high-tech surgical robots and insulin-delivery systems were gutted by Trump layoffs even though industry fees, not taxpayers, financed the employee salaries.

www.nytimes.com

Preventing lead poisoning of kids is not dead wood.

CDC denies help for lead poisoning in Milwaukee schools due to layoffs

The CDC rejected a request for help "due to the complete loss" of their lead poisoning experts.

www.cbsnews.com

Preventing or containing infectious disease outbreaks is not dead wood.

CDC scraps plan to help Texas schools curb measles over layoffs, employee says

Some employees working on the CDC's measles response were warned they could face layoffs.

www.cbsnews.com

CDC's cruise ship inspectors laid off amid bad year for outbreaks

The steep cuts to the cruise ship inspection team baffled officials in the program, which is not paid for by taxpayer dollars.

www.cbsnews.com

Biomedical research is not dead wood.

NIH is the largest funder of cancer research. Here's how Trump administration cuts could impact patients.

The Trump administration's cuts to the National Institutes of Health has some worried about stalls in research and medicine.

www.cbsnews.com

‘Chaos and Confusion’ at the Crown Jewel of American Science

Senior scientists at the National Institutes of Health fear that research on conditions like obesity, heart disease and cancer will be undermined by President Trump’s policies.

www.nytimes.com

Drug development is not dead wood.
(WSJ) Drug Development Is Slowing Down After Cuts at the FDA

Customer service for Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries is not dead wood.
(WSJ) Hours in Line, Cut-Off Calls: Accessing Social Security in the Era of DOGE

Trump Administration and DOGE Eliminate Staff Who Help Older Adults and People With Disabilities - Medicare Rights Center

As we highlighted last week, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—the newly installed head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—have fired thousands of people across many agencies and announced plans for sweeping organizational...

www.medicarerights.org

‘Just a Mess’: Staff Cuts, Rushed Changes and Anxiety at Social Security

President Trump promised not to touch Social Security, but as Elon Musk’s team trims staff and plans cuts to phone services, the system is groaning under the pressure.

www.nytimes.com

Services for veterans are not dead wood.

She helped veterans in crisis. DOGE cuts eliminated her job.

An office manager at a VA center in Wyoming, where the veteran suicide rate is 50% higher than the national average, was fired last month despite a glowing job review.

www.nbcnews.com

Chaos at the V.A.: Inside the DOGE Cuts Disrupting the Veterans Agency

Clinical trials have been delayed, contracts canceled and support staff fired. With deeper cuts coming, some are warning of potential harms to veterans.

www.nytimes.com

Weather forecasting is not dead wood.

Weather Service Prepares for ‘Degraded Operations’ Amid Trump Cuts

An internal document describes how severe shortages of meteorologists and other staff members could affect forecasts and other operations.

www.nytimes.com

Lolz. In many cases it’s being left up to the states and where it’s not, they are cutting back staffing that contains dead wood.

 

[BirdinHand]

Lolz. In many cases it’s being left up to the states and where it’s not, they are cutting back staffing that contains dead wood.

Assuming facts not in evidence.

Maybe Trump should have utilized actual trained auditors who know how to do this rather than a ketamine addled billionaire and band of hackers who are wholly unqualified for the job at hand

 

[VySky]

Assuming facts not in evidence.

Maybe Trump should have utilized actual trained auditors who know how to do this rather than a ketamine addled billionaire and band of hackers who are wholly unqualified for the job at hand

Why should I expect him to do as you demand?

 

[BirdinHand]

Why should I expect him to do as you demand?

He won’t.

So you shouldn’t.

 

[VanceMack]

If total payroll is 4% of the budget annually, over a decade it’s . . . still 4% of the budget.

And its just a piece of the puzzle..but you people shit yourselves over EVERY instance of waste that has been attacked.

Look..I get it. You are really angry they cancelled the pro trans puppet shows in Moldova. But all is not lost. Instead of taxpayer dollars YOU and every person like you can donate your OWN money to sterilize mutilate the genitals of children in 3rd world countries with names you never knew existed in the support of your causes.

Just not taxpayer dollars.