Government Efficiency (4 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.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Elon Musk Demands Firing of ‘Disgusting and Cruel’ WSJ Reporter Who Uncovered DOGE Employee’s Racist Tweets

Elon Musk suggested that The Wall Street Journal reporter responsible for uncovering a DOGE employee's racist tweets should be fired on Friday.

www.mediaite.com

I can only conclude that since he believes that she is disgusting and cruel, then he believes that the racist guy is a hero.

 

[RobF]

I can only conclude that since he believes that she is disgusting and cruel, then he believes that the racist guy is a hero.

I was surprised he resigned, I'm not surprised they want to bring him back.

As with their approach to free speech, what they actually want is freedom from consequences, for them. Which necessitates attacking people who have the temerity to try to hold them to account for the things they've done. Like journalists.

I really don't get it though. If you don't like people not liking you being racist, it seems way easier to just not be racist then it does to try to turn society upside down to create a world in which you can be racist but no-one feels like they can mention it.

 

[Optimus Prime]

A federal judge early on Saturday blocked Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) from accessing treasury department records that contain sensitive personal data such as social security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans.

US district judge Paul A Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued Donald Trump. The case, filed in federal court in New York city, alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk’s team access to the treasury department’s central payment system in violation of federal law.

The payment system handles tax refunds, social security benefits, veterans’ benefits and much more, sending out trillions of dollars every year while containing an expansive network of Americans’ personal and financial data.


Engelmayer, who was appointed by Barack Obama, also said anyone prohibited from having access to the sensitive information since 20 January must immediately destroy all copies of material downloaded from treasury department systems.

He set a hearing for 14 February.…….

Judge temporarily blocks Musk’s ‘Doge’ team from accessing treasury records

Injunction granted in response to lawsuit alleging the Trump administration allowed Musk’s team access to sensitive data in violation of federal law

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Elon Musk’s newly formed team, the Department of Government Efficiency, has managed to insert itself in at least 14 federal agencies and departments - looking for ways to cut costs and raising alarm bells with watchdogs.

DOGE staffers, many of whom have been subject to controversy due to their lack of experience or proximity to Musk’s other businesses, have been reportedly seen working in the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Disease Control, the FBI and more within the last week.…….

DOGE team has now inserted officials at 14 key government agencies

Musk’s team of allies, former employees and young people on DOGE have infiltrated the government’s key federal agencies and departments

www.independent.co.uk

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Speaking of Fraud, Waste & Abuse...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is looking to live in military family housing and requested to use $137,000 in taxpayer funding for repairs -- including nearly $50,000 for an "emergency" paint job -- a pair of top Democratic lawmakers said in a letter Friday demanding more details.

While it is not unprecedented for a defense secretary to live in military housing, it is far more common for them to find private housing. And the reported price tag to fix up Hegseth's military house comes as rank-and-file service members continue to struggle with crumbling, unsafe living conditions and as the Trump administration has been looking to slash government spending elsewhere.

Hegseth Wants $50,000 for 'Emergency' Paint Job to Move into Military Family Housing, Lawmakers Say

While it is not unprecedented for a defense secretary to live in military housing, it is far more common for them to find private housing.

www.military.com

 

[MT15]

This is why we cannot believe anything that this administration says. They are either incompetent or malignant liars. Politifact points out the lies from his press Secretary. She mis-states what funds were used for and falsely attributes State Dept funding to USAID, to turn people against a dept they don’t like.

We cannot trust liars like this to do the right thing ever.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Little state puppy DOGEs
====================

It’s raining cats and DOGEs as Republican-led states are pushing for copycat versions of the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency.

President Donald Trump ordered the creation of DOGE on his first day in the White House. With world’s richest Elon Musk at the helm, the “outside of government” agency has its sights set on reducing federal funds for DEI programs, dismantling federal agencies, and terminating digital modernization projects.

In the weeks since its creation, some governors have launched new departments that mimic Musk’s cost-cutting agency while state legislatures have backed measures to establish them.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt launched the Division of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE-OK. New Hampshire announced the creation of her state’s offshoot: COGE.

"We are going to have to look to find better ways to do things with fewer dollars," Governor Kelly Ayotte said last month in her inaugural address. "Because I know nothing is harder than getting politicians to not spend money, today I am announcing the creation of the Commission on Government Efficiency, or as I like to call it – the ‘COGE.’"………

States are now looking to create their own cost-cutting DOGE agencies

GOP-led states are seeking to replicate the highly scrutinized ‘outside of government’ agency

www.independent.co.uk

 

[coldseat]

Little state puppy DOGEs
====================

It’s raining cats and DOGEs as Republican-led states are pushing for copycat versions of the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency.

President Donald Trump ordered the creation of DOGE on his first day in the White House. With world’s richest Elon Musk at the helm, the “outside of government” agency has its sights set on reducing federal funds for DEI programs, dismantling federal agencies, and terminating digital modernization projects.

In the weeks since its creation, some governors have launched new departments that mimic Musk’s cost-cutting agency while state legislatures have backed measures to establish them.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt launched the Division of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE-OK. New Hampshire announced the creation of her state’s offshoot: COGE.

"We are going to have to look to find better ways to do things with fewer dollars," Governor Kelly Ayotte said last month in her inaugural address. "Because I know nothing is harder than getting politicians to not spend money, today I am announcing the creation of the Commission on Government Efficiency, or as I like to call it – the ‘COGE.’"………

States are now looking to create their own cost-cutting DOGE agencies

GOP-led states are seeking to replicate the highly scrutinized ‘outside of government’ agency

www.independent.co.uk

It's not like Republican states offer any services they can cut. And they're already anti-everything. Cut? Cut what?

 

[CoolBrees]

Reuter's, so even those that don't trust the media can know it is factual and accurate.

And btw, if you don't trust Reuter's, the problem lies with you.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-cuts-based-more-political-ideology-than-real-cost-savings-so-far-2025-02-12/

 

[Sendai]

“Federal workers' retirement paperwork is processed by hand in a limestone mine located in Boyers, Pennsylvania. This unusual setup was highlighted by Elon Musk during a press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House. Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), described the facility as a "time warp" where about 700 employees work 230 feet underground to manage approximately 10,000 retirement applications each month.

The process involves manually handling paper documents stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. According to a report by Business Insider, the mine has been used by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) since 1970. Efforts to digitize the system have repeatedly failed, costing over $130 million since 1987. Musk criticized the inefficiency, noting that the speed of processing is limited by the mine shaft elevator, which sometimes breaks down, delaying retirements.

"And then the speed, the limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move, determines how many people can retire from the federal government," Musk said. "And the elevator breaks down and sometimes, and then you can't, nobody can retire. Doesn't that sound crazy?"

The mine, originally excavated by US Steel, has been a storage site for federal records since 1960.”

Federal Workers' Retirement Paperwork Processed By Hand In A Limestone Mine | iHeart

700 employees work 230 feet below ground processing about 10,000 retirement requests per month. | iHeart

www.iheart.com

Government efficiency at its best.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Trying to support Trump in every way but convince him to only hurt blue states
======================


Republican Sen. Katie Britt is one of President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters. She shepherded the Laken Riley Act, Trump’s first big piece of anti-immigration legislation, through the Senate, and famously delivered the response to Joe Biden’s final State of the Union address.

But last week, the Trump administration dropped a tactical nuke on her state when the National Institutes of Health announced that it would cap the amount of indirect costs that research institutions can charge the government at 15 percent.

That’s because plenty of people in her state rely on jobs funded by the NIH. Alabama received 99 awards worth more than $42 million for 2025 alone.

A judge issued a temporary restraining order after 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop the funding change, which comes as Senate Republicans plan to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

While Democrats have been up in arms about Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s gutting of federal bureaucracies, health research cost cutting could also hurt Republicans in states where universities make up large chunks of the workforce.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is one of the biggest employers in the state. The NIH awarded $41 million in grants to UAB for the 2025 fiscal year. Britt told a gaggle of reporters on the Senate train Tuesday that both fiscal responsibility and federal research matter, something she said she stressed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“I told him we are $36 trillion in debt, that's not just fiscally irresponsible, it is morally irresponsible, and we have got to make sure that we are making judicious decisions that have the biggest impact,” she told reporters. “He discussed that, he said he absolutely understood that we need to keep both research and innovation alive and well, and you know that you have to have enough technology and laboratory facilities to be able to do that.”…..

Red states have a lot to lose from NIH funding cuts. Their leaders are worried

Universities and research institutions rely on federal dollars from the NIH. But don’t expect Republicans to cross Elon Musk

www.independent.co.uk

 

[coldseat]

“Federal workers' retirement paperwork is processed by hand in a limestone mine located in Boyers, Pennsylvania. This unusual setup was highlighted by Elon Musk during a press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House. Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), described the facility as a "time warp" where about 700 employees work 230 feet underground to manage approximately 10,000 retirement applications each month.

The process involves manually handling paper documents stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. According to a report by Business Insider, the mine has been used by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) since 1970. Efforts to digitize the system have repeatedly failed, costing over $130 million since 1987. Musk criticized the inefficiency, noting that the speed of processing is limited by the mine shaft elevator, which sometimes breaks down, delaying retirements.

"And then the speed, the limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move, determines how many people can retire from the federal government," Musk said. "And the elevator breaks down and sometimes, and then you can't, nobody can retire. Doesn't that sound crazy?"

The mine, originally excavated by US Steel, has been a storage site for federal records since 1960.”

Federal Workers' Retirement Paperwork Processed By Hand In A Limestone Mine | iHeart

700 employees work 230 feet below ground processing about 10,000 retirement requests per month. | iHeart

www.iheart.com

Government efficiency at its best.

Ooooh, there's your shiny object. Is Elon going to close that down too without any replacement in place and then nobody can retire.

I'm going to guess, even without doing one search, that there have been multiple attempts throughout the years to allocate money to move and modernize that office so that it can function in the current century. I'm also going to guess that at every turn Republicans have opposed such measures.

 

[MT15]

I wouldn’t trust anything Musk says at this point in time. He lies just as much as Trump. This lady does a good job of debunking one of his recent lies.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Ooooh, there's your shiny object. Is Elon going to close that down too without any replacement in place and then nobody can retire.

I'm going to guess, even without doing one search, that there have been multiple attempts throughout the years to allocate money to move and modernize that office so that it can function in the current century. I'm also going to guess that at every turn Republicans have opposed such measures.

I would also guess that Elon and his DOGE-bros made this amazing discovery by reading auditing one of the multiple OPM/OIG Audits.

 

[RobF]

Ooooh, there's your shiny object. Is Elon going to close that down too without any replacement in place and then nobody can retire.

I'm going to guess, even without doing one search, that there have been multiple attempts throughout the years to allocate money to move and modernize that office so that it can function in the current century. I'm also going to guess that at every turn Republicans have opposed such measures.

You'd be largely right (at least when it comes to funding it).

Some actual information about this. Washington Post, 2014:

Loading…

www.washingtonpost.com

More from 2014:

Congress Will Allow Government Retirement System to Stay in the Cave Age - Roll Call

There’s a nickname for news reports so provocative that readers are compelled to give them a literal shout out. They’re called “Hey, Martha!” stories — as in, “Hey, Martha! Come read over my shoulder: You’re not going to believe this!” Just such a doozy dominated The Washington Post’s front...

rollcall.com

A bit more about the facility from 2019:

An Underground Journey to the Heart of Retirement Processing

A behind-the-scenes look at OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania.

www.govexec.com

2021 article, mentions a bit more about the failed attempts at digitisation:

Iron Mountain: The Final Obstacle for Federal Retirement

Iron Mountain is a Limestone mine in PA now used to process retirement paperwork for Federal Employees

stwserve.com

There's plenty more about it of course, because unsurprisingly this isn't some new, previously unknown, thing. And that's the point; the problem is already known. It's the solution that's complex.

What Musk is doing there is once again demonstrating that he is bad at this. Anyone can describe a known problem. Anyone can also demonstrate a lack of comprehension of the problem by showing they don't understand why it's where is is, and why attempts to improve it have been limited before.

Actually improving it without making it worse in the process? That does require comprehension and understanding. I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[MT15]

“Federal workers' retirement paperwork is processed by hand in a limestone mine located in Boyers, Pennsylvania. This unusual setup was highlighted by Elon Musk during a press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House. Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), described the facility as a "time warp" where about 700 employees work 230 feet underground to manage approximately 10,000 retirement applications each month.

The process involves manually handling paper documents stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. According to a report by Business Insider, the mine has been used by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) since 1970. Efforts to digitize the system have repeatedly failed, costing over $130 million since 1987. Musk criticized the inefficiency, noting that the speed of processing is limited by the mine shaft elevator, which sometimes breaks down, delaying retirements.

"And then the speed, the limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move, determines how many people can retire from the federal government," Musk said. "And the elevator breaks down and sometimes, and then you can't, nobody can retire. Doesn't that sound crazy?"

The mine, originally excavated by US Steel, has been a storage site for federal records since 1960.”

Federal Workers' Retirement Paperwork Processed By Hand In A Limestone Mine | iHeart

700 employees work 230 feet below ground processing about 10,000 retirement requests per month. | iHeart

www.iheart.com

Government efficiency at its best.

Do you imagine this was a secret? That Musk discovered this because he’s so smart?

A very simple Google search shows us articles from decades ago about this issue. What I imagine is that Musk is somehow going to mischaracterize the problem and take credit for “discovering” it.

Everything he “finds” is already public knowledge OR (sometimes AND) he is lying about it.

None of this excuses his egregious self-dealing here in shutting down a USIG investigation into his actions during the Ukraine war with Starlink. And his shutting down an agency which exists to keep an eye on large banks and financial institutions who were found to be cheating customers routinely.

 

[efil4]

I wouldn’t trust anything Musk says at this point in time. He lies just as much as Trump. This lady does a good job of debunking one of his recent lies.

Remember Elon/DOGE announcement about Reuters receiving $$$ from US for what he called "large scale social deception"?

Well, that too turned out to be a lie. It wasnt Reuters, the press agency, it was Thompson Reuters - IT specialists



and it wasnt "large scale social deception" as he stated on the line item- it was for DEFENSE in regards to large scale social deception. They cropped out the actual definition - see link for original ( bottom right )

'https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA865018C7886_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-


so @Sendai or @el caliente - can either explain the repeated lies from Elon in regards to announcements like these that turn out to be pure lies? Ok with this?

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

Musk has shut down the investigations into his own work and settled his personal beef with USAID. Tell me again how there's no conflict of interest!