I knew some people that were initially very optimistic, and I tried to keep an open mind when DOGE got started despite the outlandish claims that they would be able to cut $2 trillion dollars from the budget, but it's apparent at this point that the project has been an extreme failure. It'll probably take a few years to really sort out their damage and overall impact though.

It's also imperative to mention in every DOGE-related discussion and conversation that the funding freeze to USAID is directly responsible for killing thousands of people [0]. Most of the damage done by DOGE can probably be reversed, but the thousands of death as a direct result of actions taken by the richest man in the world should not be forgotten. (Although I'm told there is a bit of uncertainty with any specific figures because the funding disruption also impacted the mechanisms for tracking and reporting deaths.)

[0] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary...

These people stole all the DBs and stored them on insecure systems and in the cloud. I am expecting all these individuals or connected individuals to immediately be seized and jailed by an Executive Order from the next Democrat President. A lot of people need to serve long prison sentences and these guys are prime candidates.

Did they revoke credentials on their way out the door, or is there now just a squadron of elon’s minions who have keys to federal gov systems?

The more distressing part of this obvious policy mistake is that if any remaining journalist attempts to take the administration to task on this failure, they’ll just be called a disgusting piggy and scolded for having the gall to bring it up.

A friend who works for a three letter agency said that they received orders from DOGE literally today so I’m not sure I believe this Reuters story.

This was all incredibly illegal and anyone involved in this should see the inside of a cell for a very long time.

E: if you disagree with me, you need to familiarize yourself with congressional budget allocation, the impoundment act, and federal data privacy laws. DOGE did not have the unilateral authority to do basically anything it tried to do and we have yet to hold anyone accountable for trying to subvert the will of the people.

The shitty lesson here is that this crime will never be remembered as a crime, but as a missed opportunity. This will mean it will happen again. The people that perpetrated this will learn they can attempt more of this without consequence, and then slither back to silicon valley and be high-fived by the meritocracy bros. Oh, the irony.

DOGE represents all the worst aspects of startup culture.

These guys saw all the existing expertise in the federal government as lazy, stupid, old-fashioned, and wasteful, and they thought that they were basically supermen - smarter, harder working, infused with AI superpowers. So they ripped up institutions that have been built at great public cost over generations. These institutions deal with incredibly complex real-world problems. But the DOGE people thought that with AI they could make better decisions in a few seconds than people with decades of experience.

The results were pretty much what you would expect. Much of what they trashed was valuable, even lifesaving. (USAID is the prime example). Destroying it saved the US government a relative pittance (the US government spent more money in 2025 than 2024) but the human cost was enormous.

Imagine being a young political leader in a developing country. You've grown up thinking favorably about the US because of the positive engagement we've made with your country - not just humanitarian aid, but also elites in your country have gone to school in the US and felt welcomed here. Now, you've just seen that the US will abandon all its promises to you in a heartbeat and leave your country with a humanitarian catastrophe. Why would you ever see the US favorably?

Or imagine that you're a small business owner who provided some valuable product or service to the US government. You've made business plans based on the understanding that the US government is a reliable customer. Then an AI told a 23 year old with no experience in your field that your contract was wasteful.

The DOGE guys will move on to other cushy startup jobs. They'll make a ton of money in their careers. The rest of us will be left to deal with the fallout.

They were taking up way too much attention and drama. Trump doesn't like that. Also politics got in the way of making any real savings.

It's main legacy will be of dismantling much of the progressive infrastructure of the federal government. It's a pity because the deficit is very high. The current rationalisation is that tarriffs and a 2% yearly growth will cut the deficit to zero by the 2030s. That prediction is.... very optimistic.

Isn't it the ultimate task for any good efficiency routine to delete itself?