Why did DOGE fail?

[BabaVoss]

What makes you think it failed?

They failed to make anything more efficient.

Are you pretending not to know about all the waste, fraud and abuse they've identified so far?

What they have claimed has been shown to be baloney filled with errors and serious missteps. It will be years before all the legal challenges work their way through the courts.

Are you pretending not to know that one of the biggest sources of waste, fraud and abuse got shut down? (USAID)

Your opinion is noted. Your lack of any credible evidence for this bizarre claim tells me you are likely quite ignorant of the value that USAID orovided, and the goodwill it earned our nation. Human beings are dying right now because of its absence.

Are you pretending not to know that opponents of DOGE have been filing lawsuit after lawsuit in courts with crooked judges who do nothing other than issue "temporary injunctions" to get in the way of the work being done to reduce waste, fraud and abuse? And, are you pretending not to know that DOGE has almost a year longer to do their work?

If you would not pretend not to know things, you would know that DOGE has not failed.

DOGE has failed utterly in their stated mission. Musk accomplished his own goals, i suspect. But all they did was cause chaos and disruption.

.

 

[rickc]

It was a scam from the start. They said it was about cutting the deficit. They said it was about waste, fraud and abuse.

This was what it is really about.

Project 2025 Seeks to Dismantle Agencies, Terminate Up To 1 Million Federal Workers

Here are the highlights – or rather lowlights – of Project 2025 to help you understand how these plans would undermine national security, destroy democracy, and take away our rights.

www.afge.org

 

[Greenbeard]

I guess we can ask all the federal agencies and workers who no longer have a job saving the American tax payer millions if it failed.

We've still been paying them.

Federal government paying 154,000 people not to work

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work as part of the deferred resignation program.

abcnews.go.com

Has DOGE failed? Trump has been in office 7 months.

Yes, it failed.

What makes you think it failed?

Are you pretending not to know about all the waste, fraud and abuse they've identified so far?

They found no waste, fraud, or abuse (other than that DOGE itself committed). The question is why.

 

[Mycroft]

They found no waste, fraud, or abuse

That is simply untrue.

Are you still pretending not to know?

 

[Luce]

That is simply untrue.

Are you still pretending not to know?

Name it.

Because every single thing they put on their "receipts wall" was taken down.

 

[Str8shooter]

We've still been paying them.

Federal government paying 154,000 people not to work

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work as part of the deferred resignation program.

abcnews.go.com

Yes, it failed.



They found no waste, fraud, or abuse (other than that DOGE itself committed). The question is why.

No, it hasn't failed. Things don't happen instantly and for some, Congress has to vote on legislation. DOGE only makes recommendations.

 

[uptower]

Because it was not an honest attempt to tackle "waste and fraud" to begin with.

The intention was to cut services to make room for tax breaks.

 

[mike2810]

US Presidents have the power to hire and fire at will.

Not a true statement.
Presidents have broad but not absolute power to hire and fire executive branch employees.
It depends on the type of employee the President wants to hire or fire.

The majority of civil service employees are not "at-will" employees and are protected by civil service laws.

 

[uptower]

It hasn't failed. You have it wrong.

That's why the left is bitching so much about budget cuts.

See post #8 then

 

[Absentglare]

Rest assured that annual federal Medicaid spending will continue to increase. Keep in mind that reductions in ‘normal’ spending increases are considered to be spending cuts by the CBO.

BTW, $1T over a decade is only $100B/year - more than $100B in annual spending was added by the BBB for this year.

That nitpicking doesn’t change whether or not budget cuts exist, which they do.

 

[forn]

It hasn't failed. You have it wrong.

This. And the left has tried to block every budget cut that has come along, proving they do not want to reduce spending.

 

[ttwtt78640]

This. And the left has tried to block every budget cut that has come along, proving they do not want to reduce spending.

The annual federal “budget” deficit amount is now double what it was in FY 2019. Rest assured that’s not being caused by “the left”.

 

[hecatmoggie]

the Democrats and Republicans have a massive trillions of dollars money scheme set up from the elected officials all the way down to the rich campaign donor's

its how the money flows and its bigger than Trump and Musk

 

[mrjurrs]

DOGE accomplished it's purpose, it ****ed up the American government. The orange MAGAt says it was for the elimination of waste fraud and abuse...

Can anyone show me a fraud investigation generated by DOGE? This was just another move to weaken America and benefit Vladimir.

 

[mrjurrs]

US Presidents have the power to hire and fire at will.

Not if they follow the law.

 

[mike2810]

imo, DOGE problem is they seems to have taken a one size fits all approach to federal employees' layoffs rather than looking at what the President / Congress has charged an Agency to do.

For example: DOGE wanted to layoff/fire based on employees being probationary. The rational was those employees are new hires and new to the federal government. That is not true in all cases. Some long time federal employees who applied and were hired for a promotion may have been on probationary status because they are not in a supervisor position. Fire those people was a net loss to the agency due to the loss of program knowledge.

President Trump wants more Oil and Gas development and timber harvesting from federal lands. Yet, DOGE laid off / fired many positions that would be needed to increase O&G sales and timber harvesting sales. Doing more with less may not apply in all areas of work.

What DOGE and the President should have done was order a programmatic review of agency programs based on Congressional and Presidential direction. No review was done.

It is interesting that DOGE found "waste" in government without really defining what "waste" is. One person's idea of waste may not be what other believe is waste. Take funding of NPR for example.

Where fraud was found then the DOJ should be finalizing investigation and filing criminal charges. Last I looked fraud is illegal.

 

[Paratrooper]

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established with the stated objective of modernizing information technology, maximizing governmental productivity and efficiency, and cutting wasteful spending.
The initiative aimed to streamline federal operations, reduce excess regulations, and restructure federal agencies, with a focus on cost savings and technological modernization.

If we judge it by that and not by whatever people want to imagine its objectives to be, then it appears to be making progress towards that objective. The DOGE initiative has not concluded so how can we judge it as a failure?

DOGE has made measurable progress in modernizing technology (e.g., software license audits, Weather Radio upgrades), improving efficiency (e.g., workforce hiring ratios, OPM contract reductions), and cutting spending (e.g., $97B in contract and grant terminations).

 

[coyote505]

Distracted by Squirrel.

 

[Greenbeard]

DOGE has made measurable progress in modernizing technology (e.g., software license audits, Weather Radio upgrades), improving efficiency (e.g., workforce hiring ratios, OPM contract reductions), and cutting spending (e.g., $97B in contract and grant terminations).

Spending is up and DOGE has proven to be a model of inefficiency. E.g.,

DOGE begins to freeze health-care payments for extra review

The U.S. DOGE Service is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal health-care grants, requiring government officials to manually review and approve previously routine payments — and paralyzing grant awards to tens of thousands of organizations, according to 12 people familiar with the new arrangements.

The effort, which DOGE has dubbed “Defend the Spend,” has left thousands of payments backed up, including funding for doctors’ and nurses’ salaries at federal health centers for the poor. Some grantees are waiting on payments they expected last week.

Current and former federal officials said the process would create bottlenecks.

“Instead of cutting red tape, they are strangling grantees with it,” said Robert Gordon, who served as the HHS assistant secretary of financial resources during the Biden administration.

Some officials have been told that only Trump political appointees can sign requests to disburse funds, even if a career official has already approved it, adding an additional layer of review. The justification for each payment also must include an explanation of how the money will be used to advance Trump administration priorities, according to two employees in separate agencies who received high-level briefings on the process.

For Federal Workers, Musk’s Chain Saw Still Reverberates

Current and former federal workers describe a government that in some cases remains paralyzed with uncertainty, waiting for direction from senior officials. Everyday tasks now take much longer, with added layers of supervisory approvals that they say make their work harder. Thousands of government employees are now being paid not to work, all in service of Mr. Musk’s efficiency mandate, which President Trump billed as a way to purge the government of diversity initiatives and as a cost-cutting initiative to better serve the American public. (There is scant evidence of any savings.)

In one of its first moves, the Department of Government Efficiency changed many government credit card spending limits to $1, a step that federal employees say has only made their work less efficient.

An official with the National Park Service said that if he needs to purchase something for work, he has to track someone down who has a card with more than a $1 limit. Then he has to see if that person is willing to pay for basic utilities. In other words, he said, two or three people are now needed to carry out a task that one person used to do.

The Forest Service employee who paid for lawn care out of his own pocket said multiple new versions of contract forms have emerged this year, going from version five to version 11. It was so difficult to get approval for a snow plowing contract for property in New England that a contractor was plowing on good faith until the payment was approved two months later, the employee said.

But I'll take your word for it that "software license audits" constitute a great leap forward in modernizing federal technology.

 

[GIJane]

While DOGE did not do as well as expected and hoped. that was because of the tech minded whiz kids not understanding how Govt works. The appropriations process as an example. Since they are funded through Congress, UNFORTUNENALT they can't be simply put back into the Govt coffers. This being a prime reason for waste. Govt agencies spend money given to them no matter if they need it or not. This is a failure of Govt.

However, it did point out the significant waste in Govt spending and brought it to light, it pointed out the operational issues in Govt such as information systems that are woefully outdated along with poor internal controls. Granted GAO also pointed these out, but somehow they've never been given the attention they deserve. They did understand that while they can't effect spending THAT MUCH they did point a looking glass at the fat, bloated, overpaid and under worked number of employees who collect a big check for doing little.

Govt AT THIS TIME does not run like a business. It is NOT a business, it is a bloated inefficient bureaucracy that is a cancer on the taxpayers and should be cut out. DOGE was a beginning, not a final project.

 

[rickc]

, it is a bloated inefficient bureaucracy that is a cancer on the taxpayers and should be cut out

Really? You actually believe that?

Sure our government needs work.

One thing that could improve it a whole lot would be to remove the profit motivation for our elected representatives. Elect people to office that truly want to serve the people instead of lining their pockets. Republican donors want to be able to buy representation. The reason for legislation like citizens united. Unlimited big money in politics.

But our federal government performs a multitude of essential functions. Only a moron would want to destroy it. Now by limiting its effectiveness in regulating corporate America they can increase the wealth of the wealthy to the detriment of the other 90% of Americans. That is their real goal.

 

[CaughtInThe]

However, it did point out the significant waste in Govt spending and brought it to light, it pointed out the operational issues in Govt such as information systems that are woefully outdated along with poor internal controls.

It will cost tons of money to update those systems AND keep them updated. That is government spending.

They did understand that while they can't effect spending THAT MUCH they did point a looking glass at the fat, bloated, overpaid and under worked number of employees who collect a big check for doing little.

Hell, that describes MAGA politicians.

Govt AT THIS TIME does not run like a business. It is NOT a business, it is a bloated inefficient bureaucracy that is a cancer on the taxpayers and should be cut out. DOGE was a beginning, not a final project.

Like FEMA or cancer research? Or subsidies for oil and farmers?

 

[Decypher]

Turns out a vast country like USA requires a vast administrative state to run it. Entitlements, the military and the police state don’t pay for themselves. America has a revenue problem not a spending problem.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Turns out a vast country like USA requires a vast administrative state to run it. Entitlements, the military and the police state don’t pay for themselves. America has a revenue problem not a spending problem.

It doesn’t appear that federal revenue (as % of GDP) has significantly changed over time.

Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product

Graph and download economic data for Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFRGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about receipts, federal, GDP, and USA.

fred.stlouisfed.org

 

[Decypher]

It doesn’t appear that federal revenue (as % of GDP) has significantly changed over time.

Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product

Graph and download economic data for Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFRGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about receipts, federal, GDP, and USA.

fred.stlouisfed.org

But the US government has grown over that time so previous income levels are no longer sufficient.