Government Efficiency (2 Viewers)

[RobF]

I think this topic deserves its own thread, both to discuss generally the topic of government efficiency, and specifically the so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency' and the incoming Trump administration's aims to "dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies".

The announcements have been covered in the The Trump Cabinet and key post thread, but to recap, Trump has announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will work together on a not-actually-an-official-government-Department of Government Efficiency, which is intended to work with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to "drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before," with the 'Department' to conclude its work "no later than July 4, 2026."

Musk has previously said that the federal budget could be reduced by "at least $2 trillion", and Ramaswarmy, during his presidential campaign, said he would fire more than 75% of the federal work force and disband agencies including the Department of Education and the FBI.

 

[wardorican]

He's a pretty solid meteorologist. Always paid attention to him when I lived in South Florida.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The White House plans to ask Congress this week to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved funding to foreign aid and public media outlets, as the administration seeks to make permanent some of the cuts and priorities of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The package includes $8.3 billion in cuts to foreign aid efforts ranging from climate work to LGBT programs, as well as $1.1 billion clawed back from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which partially funds NPR and PBS, an administration official told The Independent.

Republican lawmakers have expressed mixed feelings about the clawback package.


“The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said last week on X, promising the cuts would end USAID’s “insane spending.”

The proposal, expected to be submitted as early as Tuesday, would have 45 days to pass.……

Trump demands Congress back DOGE’s $9.4 billion cuts to USAID and PBS

Clawback proposal seeks to continue DOGE-style cuts as Elon Musk leaves administration post

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

They couldn’t be donated somewhere?
===============
Roughly $12 million worth of HIV-prevention drugs and contraceptives purchased by the U.S. Agency for International Development will likely be destroyed after President Donald Trump dismantled the organization, according to a report.

These drugs have been sitting in distribution centers in Belgium and the UAE since January, when Trump ended the agency’s spending, The Washington Post reported. Now, negotiators have been instructed to sell the drugs or else they’ll be thrown out, according to the outlet.

“The mandate that [the USAID negotiator] has been given is ‘get us money for it, and if you can’t do that, we’re just going to trash it,’” someone with knowledge of the situation told the Post.


These supplies include more than 26 million condoms, 2 million doses of injectable birth control, millions of packages of oral birth control, hundreds of thousands of implantable contraceptive devices, and over 50,000 vials of a drug that prevents HIV contraction, the Postreports.…….

Trump team set to destroy $12m worth of HIV drugs and contraceptives bought by USAID

The life-saving drugs and contraceptives have been sitting in warehouses since January

www.independent.co.uk

 

[MT15]

They couldn’t be donated somewhere?
===============
Roughly $12 million worth of HIV-prevention drugs and contraceptives purchased by the U.S. Agency for International Development will likely be destroyed after President Donald Trump dismantled the organization, according to a report.

These drugs have been sitting in distribution centers in Belgium and the UAE since January, when Trump ended the agency’s spending, The Washington Post reported. Now, negotiators have been instructed to sell the drugs or else they’ll be thrown out, according to the outlet.

“The mandate that [the USAID negotiator] has been given is ‘get us money for it, and if you can’t do that, we’re just going to trash it,’” someone with knowledge of the situation told the Post.


These supplies include more than 26 million condoms, 2 million doses of injectable birth control, millions of packages of oral birth control, hundreds of thousands of implantable contraceptive devices, and over 50,000 vials of a drug that prevents HIV contraction, the Postreports.…….

Trump team set to destroy $12m worth of HIV drugs and contraceptives bought by USAID

The life-saving drugs and contraceptives have been sitting in warehouses since January

www.independent.co.uk

This is evil.

 

[MT15]

So ProPublica has gotten some of the code that Musk’s minions set loose inside government systems at the VA, and (shocker) found it was poorly written and unreliable. It used poorly designed AI to get rid of lots of contracts automatically, causing chaos when it turned out those contracts were actually needed.

Inside the AI Prompts DOGE Used to “Munch” Contracts Related to Veterans’ Health

Experts who reviewed the code for ProPublica found numerous and troubling flaws in the system, providing a disturbing glimpse into how the Trump administration is allowing artificial intelligence to guide critical cuts in services.

www.propublica.org

 

[Optimus Prime]

Early this spring, the Food and Drug Administration fired nearly 50 workers in the Office of Regulatory Policy — only to turn around and order them back to the office with one day’s notice.

After dismissing thousands of probationary employees for fabricated “performance” issues, the IRS reversed course and told them to show up to work in late May.

And some staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development, dismantled in the first days of the Trump administration by a gleeful Elon Musk and his cost-cutting team at the U.S. DOGE Service, checked their inboxes this month to find an unexpected offer: Would you consider returning — to work for the State Department?

Across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOGE’s staff-slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process.

Since Musk left the White House last week, he and Trump have fallen out bitterly, sniping at each other in public over the cost of Trump’s sweeping tax legislation and government subsidies for Musk’s businesses. But even before that, the administration was working to undo some of DOGE’s highest-profile actions.

Trump officials are trying to recover not only people who were fired, but also thousands of experienced senior staffers who are opting for a voluntary exit as the administration rolls out a second resignation offer. Thousands more staff are returning in fits and starts as a conflicting patchwork of court decisions overturn some of Trump’s large-scale firings, especially his Valentine’s Day dismissal of all probationary workers, those with one or two years of government service and fewer job protections. A federal judge in April ordered the president to reinstate probationary workers dismissed from 20 federal agencies, although a few days later the Supreme Court — in a different case — halted another judge’s order to reinstate a smaller group.

Some fired federal employees, especially those at retirement age or who have since secured jobs in the private sector, are proving reluctant to return. So the administration is seeking work-arounds and stopgaps, including asking remaining staff to serve in new roles, work overtime or volunteer to fill vacancies, according to interviews with 18 federal workers across eight agencies and messages obtained by The Washington Post. A Post review found recent messy re-hirings at agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the IRS, the State Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The ever-shifting personnel changes are yet another strain on a workforce already weary of Trump-induced uncertainty, said current and former employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“They wanted to show they were gutting the government, but there was no thought about what parts might be worth keeping,” said one FDA staffer who was fired and rehired. “Now it feels like it was all just a game to them.”.............

Trump races to fix a big mistake: DOGE fired too many people ​

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Department of Labor said it would “eliminate” the Women’s Bureau, a century-old department that focuses on advocating for economic equality and safe working environments for women, despite the Labor Secretary acknowledging only Congress can do so.

When pressed with questions about the Department of Government Efficiency cutting grants administered by the Women’s Bureau at a House Appropriations Committee meeting on May 15, Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer responded by emphasizing its history.

“Statutorily, the Women’s Bureau is in statute,” Chavez-DeRemer said in response to Representative Rosa DeLauro’s concerns.


While Chavez-DeRemer’s comment stopped short of a promise and she did not elaborate on the future of Women’s Bureau, her comment may have insinuated the 105-year-old department was here to stay.

Yet the Department of Labor’s 2026 fiscal yearbudget in brief anticipates eliminating the Women’s Bureau, calling it a “relic of the past” and “an ineffective policy.”…….

Trump looks to close Women’s Bureau despite insinuating it would stay

Enacted by Congress in 1920, the Women’s Bureau researches and advocates for equality in the workplace

www.independent.co.uk

 

[bird]

Early this spring, the Food and Drug Administration fired nearly 50 workers in the Office of Regulatory Policy — only to turn around and order them back to the office with one day’s notice.

After dismissing thousands of probationary employees for fabricated “performance” issues, the IRS reversed course and told them to show up to work in late May.

And some staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development, dismantled in the first days of the Trump administration by a gleeful Elon Musk and his cost-cutting team at the U.S. DOGE Service, checked their inboxes this month to find an unexpected offer: Would you consider returning — to work for the State Department?

Across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOGE’s staff-slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process.

Since Musk left the White House last week, he and Trump have fallen out bitterly, sniping at each other in public over the cost of Trump’s sweeping tax legislation and government subsidies for Musk’s businesses. But even before that, the administration was working to undo some of DOGE’s highest-profile actions.

Trump officials are trying to recover not only people who were fired, but also thousands of experienced senior staffers who are opting for a voluntary exit as the administration rolls out a second resignation offer. Thousands more staff are returning in fits and starts as a conflicting patchwork of court decisions overturn some of Trump’s large-scale firings, especially his Valentine’s Day dismissal of all probationary workers, those with one or two years of government service and fewer job protections. A federal judge in April ordered the president to reinstate probationary workers dismissed from 20 federal agencies, although a few days later the Supreme Court — in a different case — halted another judge’s order to reinstate a smaller group.

Some fired federal employees, especially those at retirement age or who have since secured jobs in the private sector, are proving reluctant to return. So the administration is seeking work-arounds and stopgaps, including asking remaining staff to serve in new roles, work overtime or volunteer to fill vacancies, according to interviews with 18 federal workers across eight agencies and messages obtained by The Washington Post. A Post review found recent messy re-hirings at agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the IRS, the State Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The ever-shifting personnel changes are yet another strain on a workforce already weary of Trump-induced uncertainty, said current and former employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“They wanted to show they were gutting the government, but there was no thought about what parts might be worth keeping,” said one FDA staffer who was fired and rehired. “Now it feels like it was all just a game to them.”.............

Trump races to fix a big mistake: DOGE fired too many people​

Of course, it was a game. They had no damn idea what they were doing. Eloon loved the attention. The DOGE punks felt important. That people were damaged was no concern of theirs. This was what you get when a bunch of childish, immature people get their hands on things that they shouldn’t be near.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Elon Musk was exaggerating the achievements of the Department of Government Efficiency,and “most everybody” on Capitol Hill knew it, a GOP lawmaker has said.

Republican U.S. Rep. Blake Moore told reporters that, behind the scenes, many were skeptical about the bold claims of the world’s richest man.

"Most everybody knew Elon was exaggerating what he could do," Moore of Utah told reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday. "He was claiming to find $4 billion a day in cuts he was going to get. One time, he said $2 trillion, he was going to find."

"It's a massive exaggeration, and I think people are recognizing that now," he added.……..

GOP lawmaker says ‘everybody knew’ Elon Musk was exaggerating DOGE’s achievements

Utah representative Blake Moore said that behind the scenes, many were skeptical about the bold claims of the world’s richest man

www.independent.co.uk

 

[bird]

Elon Musk was exaggerating the achievements of the Department of Government Efficiency,and “most everybody” on Capitol Hill knew it, a GOP lawmaker has said.

Republican U.S. Rep. Blake Moore told reporters that, behind the scenes, many were skeptical about the bold claims of the world’s richest man.

"Most everybody knew Elon was exaggerating what he could do," Moore of Utah told reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday. "He was claiming to find $4 billion a day in cuts he was going to get. One time, he said $2 trillion, he was going to find."

"It's a massive exaggeration, and I think people are recognizing that now," he added.……..

GOP lawmaker says ‘everybody knew’ Elon Musk was exaggerating DOGE’s achievements

Utah representative Blake Moore said that behind the scenes, many were skeptical about the bold claims of the world’s richest man

www.independent.co.uk

The media is failing in its job regarding Musk just like they have with Trump. Musk and DOGE need to be called out as failures in public to their faces. It should happen to Trump as well regarding DOGE. It is unacceptable that they are not called out.

 

[MT15]

NPR article interviewing former DOGE staffer - huge shocker - fraud and abuse were nearly nonexistent.

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/02/nx-s1-5417994/former-doge-engineer-shares-his-experience-working-for-the-cost-cutting-unit

Emphasis mine. This is exactly what everyone already knows. And yet DOGE is out there breaking things and taking our personal data for nothing.

“I did not find the federal government to be rife with waste, fraud and abuse. I was expecting some more easy wins. I was hoping for opportunity to cut waste, fraud and abuse. And I do believe that there is a lot of waste. There's minimal amounts of fraud. And abuse, to me, feels relatively nonexistent. And the reason is — I think we have a bias as people coming from the tech industry where we worked at companies, you know, such as Google, Facebook, these companies that have plenty of money, are funded by investors and have lots of people kind of sitting around doing nothing.”

 

[DaveXA]

Elon Musk was exaggerating the achievements of the Department of Government Efficiency,and “most everybody” on Capitol Hill knew it, a GOP lawmaker has said.

Republican U.S. Rep. Blake Moore told reporters that, behind the scenes, many were skeptical about the bold claims of the world’s richest man.

"Most everybody knew Elon was exaggerating what he could do," Moore of Utah told reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday. "He was claiming to find $4 billion a day in cuts he was going to get. One time, he said $2 trillion, he was going to find."

"It's a massive exaggeration, and I think people are recognizing that now," he added.……..

GOP lawmaker says ‘everybody knew’ Elon Musk was exaggerating DOGE’s achievements

Utah representative Blake Moore said that behind the scenes, many were skeptical about the bold claims of the world’s richest man

www.independent.co.uk

The fact that you dumbasses didn’t recognize it when the claim was made says all we need to know.

 

[bird]

NPR article interviewing former DOGE staffer - huge shocker - fraud and abuse were nearly nonexistent.

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/02/nx-s1-5417994/former-doge-engineer-shares-his-experience-working-for-the-cost-cutting-unit

Emphasis mine. This is exactly what everyone already knows. And yet DOGE is out there breaking things and taking our personal data for nothing.

“I did not find the federal government to be rife with waste, fraud and abuse. I was expecting some more easy wins. I was hoping for opportunity to cut waste, fraud and abuse. And I do believe that there is a lot of waste. There's minimal amounts of fraud. And abuse, to me, feels relatively nonexistent. And the reason is — I think we have a bias as people coming from the tech industry where we worked at companies, you know, such as Google, Facebook, these companies that have plenty of money, are funded by investors and have lots of people kind of sitting around doing nothing.”

Waste is an interesting term. Again, imo, it occurs when the private sector and government come in contact with each other. Overruns, change orders, padding contracts are all opportunities for waste.

 

[Lapaz]

The media is failing in its job regarding Musk just like they have with Trump. Musk and DOGE need to be called out as failures in public to their faces. It should happen to Trump as well regarding DOGE. It is unacceptable that they are not called out.

The media is being intimidated and threatened. Hell, even Musk is being intimidated into not funding Democrats.

 

[MT15]

Waste is an interesting term. Again, imo, it occurs when the private sector and government come in contact with each other. Overruns, change orders, padding contracts are all opportunities for waste.

I noticed that he didn’t say he had found a lot of waste, he said he believes there’s a lot of waste. He admitted they didn’t find much.

This story should be featured prominently. Much more so than it has been.

 

[Optimus Prime]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly voted Thursday to cut about $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to follow through on work by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk.

The package targets foreign aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides money for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, as well as thousands of public radio and television stations around the country. The vote was 214-212.

Republicans are characterizing the spending as wasteful and unnecessary, but Democrats say the rescissions are hurting the United States’ standing in the world and will lead to needless deaths.

“Cruelty is the point,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said of the proposed spending cuts.

The Trump administration is employing a tool rarely used in recent years that allows the president to transmit a request to Congress to cancel previously appropriated funds. That triggers a 45-day clock in which the funds are frozen pending congressional action. If Congress fails to act within that period, then the spending stands………..

House approves Trump's request to cut funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid

The House has voted to cut about $9.4 billion in spending as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to follow through on work done by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk.

apnews.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Federal workers still must fill out DOGE ‘five things’ email despite Musk exit

The White House and other government agencies defend the practice despite some employees questioning their utility

www.independent.co.uk

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly voted Thursday to cut about $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to follow through on work by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk.

The package targets foreign aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides money for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, as well as thousands of public radio and television stations around the country. The vote was 214-212.

Republicans are characterizing the spending as wasteful and unnecessary, but Democrats say the rescissions are hurting the United States’ standing in the world and will lead to needless deaths.

“Cruelty is the point,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said of the proposed spending cuts.

The Trump administration is employing a tool rarely used in recent years that allows the president to transmit a request to Congress to cancel previously appropriated funds. That triggers a 45-day clock in which the funds are frozen pending congressional action. If Congress fails to act within that period, then the spending stands………..

House approves Trump's request to cut funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid

The House has voted to cut about $9.4 billion in spending as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to follow through on work done by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk.

apnews.com

The GOP has fully ceded their Article I duties to the Executive Branch. They are normalizing POTUS overreach by codifying those actions post implementation, when such actions would require Congressional approval prior to implementation. Trump and his handlers will be licking their chops at the thought of getting Congress to codify the bulk of his empty Executive Orders.