I figured I could offer a different perspective as an agnostic and independent given all of the biases and political spin by each cable news network.
Here's my take on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)?
The Positives
I think that Elon Musk is the right guy for the job because he's free-spirited thinker, he's successful at business, and an outsider. I'd expect someone like that to be more willing to go all out exposing government waste and fraud than your typical politician or bureaucrat. While it isn't good that he's not confirmed nor elected but then I ask how bad is that really (perhaps some in the media are overplaying that) or if that would be any different than just having some third party do the job. I also keep in mind that Elon has only been doing this for a month now and this is a massive undertaking so some mistakes are expected compared to how some in the media are portraying this as being a completely ineffective.
Now to the main point, has DOGE done a good job finding fraud and waste?
For the record, I consider any money saved as being progress compared to some news media sites that fault Musk for inaccurately claiming to save $8 billion when it's only $8 million. Whether 8 million or 8 Billion, it's still money saved and it's a start, and it adds up. According to DOGE.gov, it has claimed to have saved $55 billion in government spending. A lot of the savings posted comes from cancelling government contracts and paid subscriptions. Now that $55 billion in savings is probably debatable, but a source that's very critical of DOGE's progress puts the estimated savings at $2 billion. From the NPR:
If you follow DOGE's X feed, it is also constantly posting about cost savings, like a $265k USDA contract for a retreat that was cancelled. Ideally, I'd want that information verified by other sources since DOGE is not an official government agency (but still operating like one having access to government agencies).
The Negatives
Elon's DOGE seem to be taking a tech industry approach of "move fast and break things". I think this can lead to a sloppy job depending on how many mistakes are made, not to mention that there could be negative consequences that could be avoided if Elon would take more time to plan more. Already we know that some government staffers were sent termination notices on accident. Then there are the implications of staff cuts leading to less quality and in need services. Some of these negative impacts are just speculation of what could happen, but I do question if Trump and Elon have considered these negative ripple effects and if they planned around this. For instance, one member posted a story about USAID funding being paused which leads to the risk of about $500 million in food aid becoming spoiled since workers were laid off. It's easy to cut, but it's much harder to make things run good with less staff and funding.
Here's my take on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)?
The Positives
I think that Elon Musk is the right guy for the job because he's free-spirited thinker, he's successful at business, and an outsider. I'd expect someone like that to be more willing to go all out exposing government waste and fraud than your typical politician or bureaucrat. While it isn't good that he's not confirmed nor elected but then I ask how bad is that really (perhaps some in the media are overplaying that) or if that would be any different than just having some third party do the job. I also keep in mind that Elon has only been doing this for a month now and this is a massive undertaking so some mistakes are expected compared to how some in the media are portraying this as being a completely ineffective.
Now to the main point, has DOGE done a good job finding fraud and waste?
For the record, I consider any money saved as being progress compared to some news media sites that fault Musk for inaccurately claiming to save $8 billion when it's only $8 million. Whether 8 million or 8 Billion, it's still money saved and it's a start, and it adds up. According to DOGE.gov, it has claimed to have saved $55 billion in government spending. A lot of the savings posted comes from cancelling government contracts and paid subscriptions. Now that $55 billion in savings is probably debatable, but a source that's very critical of DOGE's progress puts the estimated savings at $2 billion. From the NPR:
If you follow DOGE's X feed, it is also constantly posting about cost savings, like a $265k USDA contract for a retreat that was cancelled. Ideally, I'd want that information verified by other sources since DOGE is not an official government agency (but still operating like one having access to government agencies).
The Negatives
Elon's DOGE seem to be taking a tech industry approach of "move fast and break things". I think this can lead to a sloppy job depending on how many mistakes are made, not to mention that there could be negative consequences that could be avoided if Elon would take more time to plan more. Already we know that some government staffers were sent termination notices on accident. Then there are the implications of staff cuts leading to less quality and in need services. Some of these negative impacts are just speculation of what could happen, but I do question if Trump and Elon have considered these negative ripple effects and if they planned around this. For instance, one member posted a story about USAID funding being paused which leads to the risk of about $500 million in food aid becoming spoiled since workers were laid off. It's easy to cut, but it's much harder to make things run good with less staff and funding.
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