Musk’s actually costing Americans billions while touting fake savings
The ineptitude of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is set to cost taxpayers billions of dollars in the next fiscal year, according to an analysis published on Friday.
The nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit studying the government’s workforce, estimates that DOGE’s actions will cost at least $135 billion. That cost may erase the purported savings touted by the group, which was authorized by President Donald Trump as part of an effort to theoretically cut government waste, fraud, and abuse.
DOGE is costing taxpayers so much because of the haphazard directives issued by Musk and Trump. Agencies have been told to fire civil service employees, only to have federal judges rule that DOGE overstepped its authority—and then those employees have to be rehired. PPS said this process, along with paid leave costs and lost productivity, will lead to billions in wasted tax dollars.
For instance, Musk and DOGE fired workers responsible for the federal response to the outbreak of bird flu, then had to rehire them. They also cut funding for Ebola prevention, then had to act to restore it after public outcry.
The DOGE bill is likely even higher than PPS’ estimate, which didn’t include the cost of the court fights challenging DOGE actions.
At the same time, DOGE has repeatedly been caught overstating the spending it has cut through firings and contract cancellations.
“Not only is Musk vastly overinflating the money he has saved, he is not accounting for the exponentially larger waste that he is creating,” Max Stier, chief executive of PPS, told The New York Times.
Congressional Republicans, who have enabled Trump and Musk to operate unchecked, are feeling the heat. The party has canceled many town halls as Republicans are afraid to confront voters angered by DOGE’s actions, and even when the party prescreens the audience—as one Republican congressman did on Monday—the party is being booed.
But since Musk has donated millions to the GOP and is reportedly considering a $100 million to Trump’s political operation, congressional Republicans are allowing him and DOGE to continue their costly work.
Musk has become a pariah in the public’s eyes. His car company, Tesla, recently revealed that sales have collapsed and its net income is down 71% from a year ago. On an earnings call with investors on Tuesday, Musk claimed he would be pulling back from his work at DOGE and pushed a conspiracy that protests at Tesla dealerships are financed by shadowy outside forces.
Reports have also emerged of shouting matches between Musk and senior Trump officials as the fallout from DOGE’s actions disrupts the nation.
But the toxic legacy of DOGE is already being cemented, and Musk and Trump are forever linked to an estimated multibillion-dollar mistake.