Tag Archives: DOGE

CBS News reports: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, says it has saved $160 billion through its push to root out wasteful or fraudulent government spending. But that effort may also have come at a cost for taxpayers, with a new analysis from a nonpartisan research and advocacy group estimating that DOGE’s actions will cost $135 billion this …

Politico reports: The Trump administration has drawn a bright line around Medicare and Social Security, promising Americans that the two programs will remain untouched. But a budget proposal obtained by POLITICO shows a different kind of rollback underway — one that could impact the lives of millions of older Americans and people with disabilities. The Trump administration is poised to …

The Guardian reports: Social Security, the sacred cow of the US welfare system dating back to Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal, faces significant threat as it reels under the stress of Elon Musk’s aggressive incursions, its former head has said. Martin O’Malley, former commissioner of the social security administration (SSA) under Joe Biden, said such a breakdown could result in …

Reuters reports: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday he would cut back “significantly” the time he devotes to the Trump administration from next month and spend more time running the electric-vehicle maker. Tesla shares, which had risen 4% in after-hours trading right before an earnings conference call began, spiked to trade up 5.5% on Musk’s comments. The remarks came …

The New York Times reports: Tesla said Tuesday that its profits fell 71 percent in the first three months of the year, which could increase the pressure on Elon Musk, the automaker’s chief executive, to curtail his work for President Trump and spend more time managing the company. The company said it earned $409 million, down from $1.4 billion in …

The Washington Post reports: Representatives of the U.S. DOGE Service have received permission to access a highly sensitive Justice Department system that contains information including the addresses and case histories of millions of legal and undocumented immigrants. The system is used to store records of immigrants who have interacted with the U.S. immigration system, detailing their name, any addresses, previous …

Bloomberg News reports: Representatives from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency met with leadership at the National Gallery of Art on Thursday, according to an email from the director to staff of the fine arts museum. National Gallery Director Kaywin Feldman and Secretary and General Counsel Luis Baquedano discussed the museum’s legal status with DOGE representatives, per the email seen …

The Washington Post reports: Immigrants falsely labeled dead by the Social Security Administration are showing up at field offices with documents proving they are alive, leading staff to reinstate nearly three dozen people over the past week, according to records obtained by The Washington Post. Some immigrants have shown up with driver’s licenses and work permits to prove their legitimacy, …

Reuters reports: A member of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency allegedly screamed and demanded 36-hours of straight work to process Thursday’s mass firings at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency employee said in a sworn statement on Friday. “DOGE member Gavin Kliger…kept the team up for 36 hours straight to ensure that the notices would go …

Politico reports: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced late Thursday that California will sue the Trump administration over the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts to AmeriCorps. It’s the Golden State’s second lawsuit against the White House in as many days. The Trump administration placed all but a handful of senior AmeriCorps employees on leave on Wednesday as DOGE pursues sweeping spending cuts …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. DOGE Service is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal health-care grants, requiring government officials to manually review and approve previously routine payments — and paralyzing grant awards to tens of thousands of organizations. The effort, which DOGE has dubbed “Defend the Spend,” has left thousands of payments backed up, including funding …

Axios reports: President Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday attempting to curtail Social Security fraud, despite ample evidence against widespread improper payments. The move bolsters Elon Musk’s DOGE-related efforts to eliminate Social Security fraud, about which he has continually exaggerated and promoted conspiracy theories. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the memorandum aims to restrict undocumented …

Politico reports: The White House’s Department of Government Efficiency office has targeted a behavioral diversity program to be cut from Brookfield Zoo. Problem is, it has nothing to do with diversity, equity and inclusion in the traditional DEI sense. “It’s about bio-diversity and animal welfare,” said Brookfield Zoo Chicago Senior VP Andrea Rodgers. The funding cut wasn’t a complete surprise, …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration is using personal data normally protected from dissemination to find undocumented immigrants where they work, study and live, often with the goal of removing them from their housing and the workforce. At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for example, officials are working on a rule that would ban mixed-status households — …

NPR reports: In the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board. The small, independent federal agency investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices. It stores reams of potentially sensitive data, from confidential information about employees who …

Politico reports: The proposal for fiscal 2026 would allocate $28.4 billion to State and USAID, down from $54.4 billion in the enacted fiscal 2025 budget. That includes cuts demanded by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The proposal would eliminate or substantially cut numerous programs, including ones that promote democracy, support educational and cultural exchanges, fight drug trafficking …

The Washington Post reports: DOGE Service employees have inserted themselves into the government’s long-established process to alert the public about potential federal grants and allow organizations to apply for funds, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive situation. The changes to the process — which will allow DOGE to review and approve …

The New York Times reports: Last week, Elon Musk indicated for the first time that his Department of Government Efficiency was falling short of its goal. He previously said his powerful budget-cutting team could reduce the next fiscal year’s federal budget by $1 trillion, and do it by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Instead, in a cabinet …

The Washington Post reports: Greg Pearre, who oversaw a staff of hundreds of technology experts, had pushed back on the Trump administration’s plan to move the migrants’ names into a Social Security death database, eliminating their ability to legally earn wages and, officials hoped, spurring them to leave the country. In particular, Pearre had clashed with Scott Coulter, the new …

Wired reports: The Social Security Administration will no longer be communicating with the media and the public through press releases and “dear colleague” letters, as it shifts its public communication exclusively to X, sources tell WIRED. The news comes amid major staffing cuts at the agency. “We are no longer planning to issue press releases or those dear colleague letters …