Department of Government Efficiency

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Musk, DOGE Could Spend $135B to Save $150B: Analysts

Department of Government Efficiency perhaps didn't count on the cost of firings, litigation

(Newser) - Elon Musk originally said the Department of Government Efficiency could save taxpayers $2 trillion. He later downgraded that to $1 trillion. His most recent estimate is down even further, to $150 billion. But according to the experts on federal workers who spoke to the New York Times , the cost of...

Report: DOGE Is Getting Audited
Report: DOGE Is
Getting Audited
Apr 10, 2025 6:50 PM CDT

Report: DOGE Is Getting Audited

Wired reports that congressional leaders requested review by GAO watchdog

(Newser) - The agency known as the congressional watchdog is reportedly taking a close look at DOGE. Wired , citing sources and government records, reports that the Government Accountability Office has been auditing DOGE since last month after requests from congressional leaders. Records suggest the GAO audit is focusing on DOGE's adherence...

Amid DOGE Cuts, 'Utter Chaos' for Social Security

Frequent website crashes seen as an 'attack on the legitimacy of Social Security itself'

(Newser) - The Trump administration has run into trouble in cutting Social Security phone services while directing Americans to the agency's website, which has repeatedly crashed under high traffic. Users "are facing chronic website outages" when trying to log in to their accounts, the Washington Post reports, noting the website...

Vance: 'Elon Is Not Even Close to Done'

VP says DOGE has more to do, though he expects Musk to leave role soon to serve as an 'adviser'

(Newser) - As whispers circulate about when Elon Musk's official role in the Trump administration may come to a close, the vice president of the United States is offering some more details. "Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president," JD...

RFK Jr.: We Fired Some People by Mistake

HHS director suggests 20% of those let go will be reinstated

(Newser) - Some of the thousands of federal health workers abruptly fired this week will be reinstated, says their boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The secretary of Health and Human Services told reporters that the chaotic back-and-forth is a necessary part of the process being undertaken by Elon Musk's Department of...

Strong Jobs Report Defies Expectations

Employers add more jobs than predicted, nearly 230K

(Newser) - The new jobs report is out, and it reflects hiring that was much stronger than expected. The impact of Friday's data on the markets, however, is being overshadowed by the new trade war that has begun after President Trump's tariffs.
  • Employers added 228,000 jobs in March, up
...

Late-Night Mass Firing Guts Another DC Institution

US Institute of Peace is effectively dissolved, as is USAID

(Newser) - Most employees at the US Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded think tank now taken over by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency , have received email notices of their mass firing, the AP reports. The emails, sent to personal accounts because most staff members had lost access...

After Inauguration, Federal Workers' Job Searches Spiked

They're adding to an already competitive job market that could force a career change

(Newser) - Federal workers at agencies targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency are actively searching for new posts. Job applications from workers at agencies targeted by DOGE increased 52% after January and are up 75% compared with the hot hiring market of 2022, according to a report issued Tuesday by job...

Judge Rips DOGE Dig Into Social Security Records

Americans' personal information was compromised based only on suspicion, order says

(Newser) - In a biting ruling on Thursday, a federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order blocking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team from having access to personally identifiable information on Americans stored by the Social Security Administration. Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander said anyone on Musk's team...

You're 'Going to Have a Heart Attack,' Lawmaker Tells Crowd

GOP's Harriet Hageman is booed at Wyoming town hall, but she stands her ground

(Newser) - Town hall meetings have been getting raucous lately , and one in Wyoming on Wednesday night may have been the rowdiest yet. Attendees let GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman have it via shouts, profanities, and rounds of loud booing, but she let them have it right back.
  • The Cowboy State Daily estimates
...

'Offended' Judge Declines to Block One DOGE Takeover

Institute of Peace sued after showdown at its headquarters

(Newser) - A federal judge declined on Wednesday to stop Department of Government Efficiency's takeover of the US Institute of Peace, despite declaring herself offended by the heavy-handed approach of Elon Musk's aides. The independent nonprofit asked the judge to act in a lawsuit that described an illegal "takeover...

Judge: DOGE Cuts to USAID Were Likely Unconstitutional

He blocks Musk, DOGE from making further cuts

(Newser) - A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency. US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of...

Kristof: Musk Is Wrong, People Are Already Dying

Columnist predicts deaths will soar in undeveloped nations over aid cuts

(Newser) - Elon Musk has insisted that nobody has died as the result of slashed US foreign aid. "That is not true," writes columnist Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . "In South Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, the efforts by Musk and President Trump are...

USPS Chief: DOGE Is Going to Help With 'Big Problems'

Louis DeJoy says agency will team up with Musk's group to cut 10K jobs, billions from budget

(Newser) - Postmaster General Louis DeJoy plans to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the US Postal Service budget, and he'll do that working with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, according to a letter sent to members of Congress on Thursday. DOGE will assist the USPS...

2nd Judge Orders Trump Administration to Rehire Workers

White House has not yet responded to this judge's order

(Newser) - A second federal judge on Thursday handed down an order requiring President Trump's administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies, slowing down for now the president's dramatic downsizing of the federal government. Both judges separately...

Judge Orders Thousands of Federal Workers Rehired

Ruling calls Trump administration's firing of probationary employees an illegal 'sham'

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered the government to rehire thousands of probationary workers fired after President Trump took office, reports the New York Times . Judge William J. Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said the mass firings were a "sham" and ordered the...

White House Reacts to Musk's Social Security Comments

Trump administration insists benefits won't be cut

(Newser) - Elon Musk sparked alarm Monday when he suggested the Department of Government Efficiency might make cuts to Social Security and other entitlement programs, and the Trump administration on Tuesday clarified that no cuts would be made to benefits that are collected under those programs.
  • Musk: "The waste and fraud
...

DC's New Feud Pits Elon Musk vs. Mark Kelly
DC's New Feud
Pits Elon Musk
vs. Mark Kelly
the rundown
Mar 11, 2025 12:03 PM CDT

DC's New Feud Pits Elon Musk vs. Mark Kelly

Face of DOGE called the senator and former astronaut a 'traitor' for trip to Ukraine

(Newser) - Elon Musk has picked a fight with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, and the former astronaut and ex-Navy pilot seems happy to oblige. Coverage:
  • The sniping began when Kelly posted a photo of his recent trip to Ukraine, writing that "what I saw proved to me we can'
...

WHO: Tuberculosis Could Surge After Aid Cuts
WHO: Tuberculosis
Likely to Surge After Aid Cuts
the rundown
Mar 10, 2025 2:30 AM CDT

WHO: Tuberculosis Likely to Surge After Aid Cuts

US would likely feel the effects, too, expert warns

(Newser) - The latest dire warning in the wake of the Trump administration's massive aid cuts: Tuberculosis could surge around the globe. "Without immediate action, hard-won progress in the fight against TB is at risk," the director of the WHO's Global Program on TB and Lung Health said...

Social Security Staffers Barred From Reading News at Work

Meanwhile, acting chief acknowledges DOGE will likely make 'mistakes' as it makes cuts

(Newser) - Uncertainty surrounding the Social Security Administration continues, the latest entry coming via the Washington Post . The newspaper reports that acting chief Leland Dudek met with top staff and attorneys representing the elderly and disabled this week and acknowledged that Elon Musk's DOGE team is likely to make "mistakes"...

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