Other Than This DOGE Was Great

      From an Interim Staff Analysis by the Democratic Staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:

Following Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, President Trump handed the U.S. government over to the world’s richest man through the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. DOGE was nothing short of a catastrophe. It failed to achieve its stated goals and wreaked havoc across the federal government, weakening or terminating programs and services that the American people rely on and endangering privacy and public safety while President Trump and his billionaire friends line their own pockets. This interim staff analysis presents a preliminary account of DOGE’s costly and destructive actions during the first 13 months of President Trump’s second Administration, including: 

• Decimation and Demoralization of the Federal Workforce. DOGE coordinated with other executive branch agencies to purge the expert federal workforce and chill the nonpartisan civil servants that are left to serve the public. 

• Unlawful Attacks on Statutory Programs. The Trump Administration and DOGE have unlawfully attempted to abolish statutory programs and agencies. 

• Delay, Degradation, and Elimination of Programs and Services for Americans. From delays in getting new medications to patients, to diminished access to Social Security services and food safety inspections, to greater wildfire risks, to a global instability, the harms DOGE has imposed on the everyday lives of Americans are vast, varied, and still unfolding.

• Reckless Handling of Americans’ Data. DOGE illegally deployed systems and forcefully accessed data across federal agencies in clear violation of federal privacy and cybersecurity laws, putting Americans’ data and civil liberties at risk. 

• Dismantling of Safeguards Against Waste, Fraud, Abuse, and Corruption. The Trump Administration has weakened or eliminated key offices, fired employees, and invalidated or removed rules and regulations dedicated to protecting the public interest; and 

• Lying to the American Public. DOGE and its defenders have been caught providing false claims in court and to the American people. Additionally, DOGE claims that it terminated more than 13,440 contracts, 264 leases, and 15,887 grants across the federal government. However, DOGE’s estimated “savings” have been frequently found to be wildly inaccurate and inconsistent. The high costs of DOGE unequivocally erase any verified savings it can claim, and the full extent of its lies are still coming into focus. DOGE personnel also violated security protocols when accessing highly sensitive Social Security Administration data and potentially deceived agency leaders and federal courts to avoid disclosing those violations.

The Trump Administration has funneled an estimated $81 million to fund DOGE employees, resources, and activities with virtually no transparency or mechanisms of accountability. This staff analysis resulted in the following preliminary findings regarding the American people’s return on this egregiously mishandled investment:  

• Through DOGE alone, President Trump has cost the American people billions of dollars in damage and an intangible amount of waste and suffering. 

• President Trump used DOGE as a smokescreen to make billionaires richer at the expense of hardworking Americans. 

• America needs serious oversight and government reform that is by, of, and for the American people—not reckless and corrupt billionaires.