Over 200 federal government officials testify about how messed up DOGE was
When President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he
The story of DOGE, as told by federal workers | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45373102
DOGE, which was introduced as a key initiative by President Trump, has been working to reduce government spending by reviewing various projects and laying off employees. However, it has been discovered that DOGE used an error-ridden AI tool when reviewing health care contracts, and the documents it released as its track record were also full of errors, leading to internal backlash .
Furthermore, President Trump and Musk, who had built a close working relationship during the election campaign, also came into conflict, and in May 2025, Musk announced his departure from the Trump administration. The two continued to criticize each other, with comments such as 'Elon has gone mad' and 'Trump's name is in the Epstein files,' leading to Trump even suggesting that Musk be deported from the country.
President Trump threatens to deport Elon Musk, asks DOGE to investigate Musk - GIGAZINE
WIRED interviewed over 200 government officials from dozens of agencies to learn about the chaos and damage DOGE has caused to government agencies. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said, 'DOGE has repeatedly been likened to a natural disaster, but it wasn't. It was just wide-eyed, confused government officials shuffling papers around, looking over their shoulders, wondering if Elon was sneaking up behind them with a chainsaw.'
Colin O'Brien, former head of security at the United States Institute of Peace, testified that his first and only meeting with DOGE was a 30-minute virtual meeting. While DOGE promised transparency, they refused to turn on their cameras and would not reveal the identities or even the number of people in the room. O'Brien ended up attending the meeting without knowing who he was talking to.
The article also includes various stories, such as 'a female employee was found to have broken down in tears after being forced to quit her job due to an unexpected situation where she was unable to place her young child in childcare, despite being required to come into the office,' 'a spending limit was imposed on government credit cards, causing the women's restroom to run out of toilet paper, forcing employees to bring their own for five months,' and 'a veteran boss who objected to DOGE's reckless plan was suddenly escorted away by security.'
The WIRED article has become a hot topic on Hacker News, where one user pointed to an interview published by the United States Digital Service (USDS) as a 'more thoughtful model for government reform.'
Interviews - US Digital Service Founding Archive
https://usdigitalserviceorigins.org/interviews/
One user pointed out that the fundamental problem with DOGE isn't the reckless and foolish dismantling of government agencies, but that 'the richest man in the world has been able to buy his own department of the United States federal government and exercise unlimited power within it.' He questioned whether DOGE supporters would support George Soros or Bill Gates buying up departments and manipulating the government to their will.
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