They promised $2 TRILLION.
They claimed $214 BILLION.
They actually saved… $1.4 BILLION.
Independent reviews destroyed the myth. Politico found only $1.4B in real savings out of $214 claimed. NPR put the verified total at around $2B. The Wall Street Journal the most generous found about $2.6B. Even the optimistic numbers are nowhere near what DOGE advertised.
So was DOGE just a massive failure… or was “budget cuts” the cover story while they collected data, accessed systems, and expanded influence behind the scenes? The savings weren’t real but Elon’s access definitely was.
Posted by RatioKey2034
9 Comments
Even if it was 1.4 billion on the low end that is far froma failure
The did the equivalent of buying one less coffee out per year
Politico… Hahahahaha
The official X account is still posting cuts
well, many of them are worried that they will go to jail, so there is that…
[https://futurism.com/future-society/doge-operatives-elon-abandoned](https://futurism.com/future-society/doge-operatives-elon-abandoned)
On the surface level they got roadblocked and fought in court every step of the way. They were not allowed to really make any meaningful cuts. So from that standpoint it was a failure but not for lack of trying.
It was very interesting to see how panicky politicians and the media got over the prospect of the government being audited.
All that aside though, it may well have been a ploy for data mining, we don’t know yet and may never know.
Shell game
The budget cuts went to AI datacenters
Oh, it didn’t just have a cash saving effect. It also killed people. Mostly outside the USA, true.
Estimated 600,000 people so far, thanks to USAID cuts.
That and a way to neuter programs that actually hold people like elon accountable.