August 6, 2025 • 22 mins
Elon Musk’s time at the Department of Government Efficiency made headlines — but the real story of DOGE goes beyond the chainsaws and theatrics. In this episode, we unpack how a program sold as “efficiency” quietly reshaped the role of government, shifted public power into private hands, and left a legacy that’s still unfolding today.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Raheel Khan (00:01):
Hello and welcome back to another episode of
Khannecting the Dots.
If you caught my last episode,you may remember I talked about
the Republican's Big BeautifulBill.
You know the one that turned outto be a lot less beautiful than
advertised?
Well, today I'm shifting focusto another Trump era program
that followed a similarplaybook, DOGE, the Department
(00:22):
of Government Efficiency.
This agency was billed asfighting waste and helping
ordinary Americans.
As usual, that's not quite howit played out.
Now you might be thinking, isn'tDOGE old news?
Didn't Musk leave months ago?
If only.
The truth is, the impact ofMusk's time at DOGE is still
(00:42):
being felt across the US and theprogram itself isn't dead.
It's just under new managementand arguably more dangerous than
ever.
So today, let's revisit whatDOGE was, what it was billed as,
and what impact it had oneveryday Americans.
First and foremost though, let'slisten to how the program was
(01:05):
sold.
(02:11):
That was the sales pitchdesigned to appeal to people fed
up with Washington dysfunction.
But behind the rally crowds andchainsaw stunts, something else
was happening.
The rich found a new way to getricher while everyday Americans
lost programs that had benefitedthem for years.
As with many things in Trump,2.0, DOGE was launched with a
(02:35):
lot of fanfare, headlines, boldspeeches, and plenty of
stagecraft.
The marketing was simple buteffective.
The government has been bloatedand wasteful for years.
We're gonna cut it down to size.
An efficient government?
Eliminate waste?
The promise of$2 trillion insavings by rooting out fraud in
(02:55):
Medicaid, social Security,Medicare, and other bloated
government programs?
These were things people couldget behind, and they did.
Polls showed majority support.
Even Democrats agreed thatfederal spending needed better
scrutiny.
Trump signed the executive ordercreating DOGE on January 20th,
and to lead it, he picked ElonMusk.
(03:18):
A choice that seemed logical onthe surface.
Who better to cut governmentinefficiency than a successful
businessman and the world'srichest man?
He would bring his business,know-how to the government and
make it as efficient as hiscompanies.
Of course, there was that littlefact.
Musk had just spent nearly$300million getting Trump and his
(03:40):
allies elected.
The largest known politicaldonation in American history.
Okay, so maybe he bought his wayinto government, but surely he
knew what he was doing right?
Turns out he did, but forhimself, not so much for the
country.
From the start, there werereports of massive conflicts of
(04:01):
interest.
Many of the agencies DOGEtargeted, NASA, the FAA,
Treasury, the Consumer FinancialProduction Bureau, either
regulated Musks' companies orrepresented potential
privatization and businessopportunities.
Meanwhile, programs servingworking families got cut with
little analysis of whether theyactually worked.
(04:23):
Before we dive into what DOGEactually did, let's talk about
what genuine government reformlooks like.
Because it's been done beforeand it looked very different.
In the nineties, presidentClinton tasked Vice President
Gore with something called theNational Partnership for
Reinventing Government.
Like DOGE it promised to makegovernment work better and cost
(04:46):
less.
Unlike DOGE, it actuallysucceeded.
Elaine Kamarck ran that programand now works at the Brookings
Institution.
In an interview with NPR, herassessment of DOGE was blunt.
"We cut that and they cutmuscle.
It's as simple as that." Here'show the Clinton era approach
differed.
(05:06):
They took six months digging in,talking with career public
servants, figuring out wherewaste really was and where cuts
would hurt.
They worked with people whoactually understood what each
program did.
When they found inefficientlaws, they worked with Congress
to change them.
Most lawmakers agreed becausethe proposals made sense and
(05:29):
were backed by evidence.
Clinton eliminated over 400,000federal positions, but he did it
strategically over seven years.
Targeting middle managementwhile preserving the services
people actually relied on.
Compare that to the nearly300,000 government related jobs
cut in 2025 alone.
(05:49):
A number cited by Forbes as atotal impact from DOGE driven
layoffs and contractor cuts.
These cuts have weakened thesense of government functions
and raised serious concernsabout stability and public
services.
Clinton's results (06:02):
four consecutive budget surpluses.
The national debt compared tothe size of the economy shrank
by a third.
The only balanced budgets since1969.
Kamarck's team faced zerolawsuits because they followed
the law and actually improvedhow things worked.
DOGE, on the other hand, faceddozens of lawsuits from day one.
(06:25):
Even some Republican senatorscriticized the chaos.
The difference wasn't just aboutmethod, it was about philosophy.
Clinton's team believedgovernment could work better
while still serving people.
But that takes patience,evidence, and a willingness to
fix what's broken, not justbreak what works.
(06:47):
The story DOGE told the publicwas bold, massive savings, fraud
uncovered government, finallyworking right.
But, when independent experts,journalists, and former
government officials lookedcloser, the reality was far less
impressive.
In one of his most audaciousclaims, Musk appeared in the
(07:08):
Oval Office and said there werepeople about 150 years old, even
over 200, collecting socialsecurity payments.
Trump repeated this in ralliesand even in the State of the
Union claiming that tens ofmillions of dead people were
getting benefits.
It sounded shocking.
The implication that socialsecurity was riddled with fraud
(07:28):
and only DOGE had uncovered it.
But here's what actuallyhappened.
DOGE sent in what Musk calledthe DOGE kids, mostly software
engineers, aged 19 to 24 with nogovernment experience.
They combed through socialsecurity's databases and saw
millions of people listed asover 100 years old.
They assumed it was fraud.
(07:50):
Michael Astrue, who ran SocialSecurity under both Bush and
Obama was blunt.
"The big claims are just flatout wrong.
It's just a product of sendingin a bunch of 20 year olds with
laptops who don't understandwhat they're seeing." What they
actually found were placeholderdates in very old records.
When death dates were missingoften because someone died
(08:11):
before electronic reportingexisted, the system defaulted to
numbers that made them appearimpossibly old.
Social Security already knewabout it.
Their own inspector general hadflagged this years earlier.
And out of millions of oldrecords, only about 44,000 were
receiving benefits, and most ofthose had documentation proving
(08:32):
they were alive.
Instead of admitting themistake, Musk double down.
Joking about vampires collectingsocial security.
Then there was DOGE's so-calledwall of receipts.
Their website, claiming billionsin savings from canceled
government contracts.
This was supposed to be the mainevidence of their success, how
they proved to the public theywere accomplishing their
(08:54):
mission.
But there was a problem, thenumbers just didn't add up.
Multiple news outletsinvestigated CBS, Fortune, the
New York Times, NPR, PBS, amongothers.
Here's what they found.
DOGE claimed$8 billion insavings from canceling an$8
(09:14):
million contract.
They listed the same$650 millioncontract three times triple
counting the savings.
They claimed$232 million fromending a contract worth just
$560,000.
They even took credit forcanceling a$1.9 billion contract
(09:34):
that Biden had already canceled.
And one CEO When asked by PBSabout his$10 million canceled
contract, responded,"we neverhad a contract.
It never happened." Turns out itwas a$100,000 credit line that
was never signed and neverexecuted.
NPR estimated that DOGE's totalclaim of$65 billion in savings
(09:58):
was actually closer to$2.3billion, and even that was
probably inflated.
When those errors came to light.
DOGE quietly deleted over 1000contracts from their website,
wiping out at least$4 billion inclaimed savings.
But the press conferences kepthappening.
The big numbers kept flashing.
(10:21):
So that begs the question, werethese just sloppy mistakes or
were they deliberate distortionsdesigned to cover up something
else?
Let's look at who actuallybenefited from DOGE because it
wasn't the American people.
While DOGE bragged about savingbillions, Musk's companies were
(10:41):
securing record breakinggovernment contracts.
And Federal ethics rulessupposed to prevent officials
from making decisions thatbenefit their businesses.
Musk did the opposite.
His companies have received atleast$38 billion in contracts,
loans, and subsidies over thepast two decades.
(11:01):
In 2024 alone, Tesla and SpaceXpulled in over$15 billion, and
during DOGE's 130 day run, thatnumber surged.
Take the FAA; while, DOGE wasfiring hundreds of employees.
Musk pushed them to cancel a$2billion Verizon contract and
switch to starlink.
(11:22):
He tweeted on Monday thatVerizon was putting air
travelers at serious risk.
By Thursday, 4,000 starlinkterminals were shipping to FAA
offices.
The Washington Post evenreported that Starlink was being
pushed on foreign nations aspart of the Trump
administration's tariffnegotiations.
At NASA, a$100 million SpaceXcontract dropped just weeks
(11:46):
after Musk took charge.
DOGE staff embedded inside NASAalso pushed for early
dismantling of the InternationalSpace Station.
A task SpaceX had already beencontracted to manage.
Most concerning though DOGEgained access to the treasury's
payment system.
That's the system that processesover$6 trillion annually.
(12:08):
That gave Musk's team insiderknowledge about government
contracts, payment schedules,and competitor relationships.
Another Washington Postinvestigation found DOGE had
accessed sensitive financialdata across seven major federal
departments containingcompetitors trade secrets and
sensitive regulatoryinformation.
(12:28):
One aerospace executive said"Somuch of what we submit to the
government is competitivelysensitive.
We assume it's protected.
Now we feel vulnerable." Privatecompanies held emergency
meetings, but no one wentpublic.
Because they were afraid theirown contracts would get
canceled.
And it wasn't just Musk.
(12:49):
Working with Russell VoughtTrump's budget director and
architect of Project 2025, DOGEbuilt a playbook for privatizing
the public sector step by step: fire experienced public workers. (12:57):
undefined
Let services deteriorate.
Generate complaints aboutinefficiency.
Propose private sectorsolutions.
Then award contracts to friendlycompanies.
And that last part, it's whatallowed entire sectors of
industry to flourish under DOGEBusiness Insider reported that
(13:19):
companies like Palantir andWells Fargo benefited
handsomely.
Palantir picked up frauddetection contracts for social
security and Medicaid.
Wells Fargo gained from weakenedconsumer protections as watchdog
agencies were hollowed out.
And defense contractors,according to the Guardian, saw
expanded budgets and fewerrestrictions as DOGE branded
(13:41):
oversight offices, redundant.
MSN reported that SocialSecurity Modernization was
handed to private firms withties to major GOP donors.
Work that used to be done insidethe agency.
DOGE wasn't just enriching ElonMusk.
It was building an entire DOGEeconomy, rewarding well
connected firms and punishing,dissent.
(14:03):
And when asked about conflictsof interest, the White House
said it was up to Musk himselfto decide when to recuse.
That isn't just the fox guardingthe hen house, it's allowing the
fox to be the one issuing themeal tickets.
While Musk's companies and theirallies were cashing in.
DOGE's cuts hit real people.
(14:23):
Hard.
Let's talk about what thoseefficiencies actually meant.
DOGE cut$1 billion in fundingthat went directly to food
banks.
Feeding South Florida lost 40%of its budget.
That's$15 million goneovernight.
Their CEO told CBS.
"We've been seeing empty rackssince February.
(14:44):
These cuts have really made animpact on family's ability to
thrive." At the same time DOGEannounced plans to cut up to
7,000 social Security jobs, 12%of the entire workforce, and
shut down dozens of fieldoffices.
Think about that for a minute.
The disability determinationprocess already took 236 days On
(15:05):
average.
More than a million people werewaiting for appeals.
And tens of thousands were dyingwhile they waited.
Research shows that when localSocial Security offices close,
disability benefit approvalsdropped 13%.
Not because fewer people needhelp, but because the system
becomes too hard to navigate.
At the VA, DOGE cut$2 billionacross hundreds of contracts.
(15:29):
Some of those contracts weretied to the PACT Act, the law
that expanded healthcare forveterans with toxic exposure.
These are people who served thiscountry, and got sick because of
it.
DOGE decided their care wasinefficient.
The education department lostnearly 2000 employees.
DOGE also slashed$4 billion inmedical research grants.
(15:52):
Even though every dollarinvested in that research
returns$2.50 in economicactivity and supports over
400,000 jobs.
Without government funding forresearch, private companies will
take over and monetize any newresearch findings.
A boon for them for sure, butterrible for everyday citizens.
(16:13):
According to the citizens forresponsibility and ethics,
DOGE's direct cuts to federalpositions, eliminated more than
50,000 jobs and destroyed$10billion in economic activity.
But that's just part of thepicture.
Like I mentioned earlier,broader policies under DOGE
triggered cascading job lossesacross contractors and state
(16:33):
administered programs.
Bringing the total estimatedimpact close to 300,000 jobs.
For many communities, thiswasn't about leaner government,
it was about lost livelihoods,closed offices, and vital public
services simply disappearing.
Meanwhile, Musk's companiessecured$5 for every$1 DOGE
(16:55):
claimed to cut.
Let that sink in.
For every dollar supposedlysaved$5 flowed to companies
connected to the guy running theoperation.
Now, here's the thing.
This story doesn't end when ElonMusk left in May.
DOGE didn't disappear.
It evolved.
(17:16):
On May 30th, trump held aceremonial sendoff and gave Musk
a commemorative key.
Musk's parting words.
"The DOGE mission will onlystrengthen over time as it
becomes a way of life throughoutthe government".
By the time he left, hiscompanies had secured billions
in new contracts, and theagencies meant to regulate them,
regulate him were gutted.
(17:38):
But most importantly, he leftbehind a template others could
follow.
Russell Vought has nowcompletely taken over.
Where Musk brought chaos andchainsaws.
Vought brought spreadsheets andstrategy.
He embedded mini DOGE's acrossthe federal government.
Full-time insiders working atthe very agencies they're
supposed to dismantle.
(18:00):
The 2026 federal budget includesfunding to make those DOGE
operatives permanent in-houseconsultants with institutional
staying power.
And it's not just Washington, atleast 26 states have created
their own versions of DOGE.
Florida launched of DOGE taskforce targeting things like
transportation, surtax andclimate change mitigation
(18:21):
efforts in democratic leaningareas of the state.
Texas created"lone starefficiency".
They're using audits, fines, andlegal threats to get everything
from green energy programs toworker protections.
And remember, most statesalready have to balance their
budgets.
This isn't about spending, it'sabout power and cutting the
(18:43):
program some people simply don'twant to exist.
The model is spreading becauseit works.
Not for taxpayers, but for thepeople who profit when
government fails.
So did DOGE accomplish itsmission?
Here's what's important toremember.
Efficiency was never the goal.
(19:05):
As critics and protestorspointed out, DOGE wasn't about
better government.
It was about consolidation ofpower and profit.
In that sense, it wasn't apolicy failure.
It was a massive success.
When a billionaire spends$300million to help elect a
president, then gets handcontrol over the very agencies
that regulate his business.
(19:26):
That's not reform, that's atransaction.
And it worked exactly asintended.
Musk and Republican allieswalked away with billions in new
contracts.
agencies that might challengetheir interests were gutted.
Programs that serve everydayAmericans were cut to pay for
it.
The inefficiency wasn't ingovernment.
(19:48):
It was in the fact that publicresources weren't flowing to
private interests fast enough.
And while that machine quietlyran in the background, the
spectacle unfolded upfront, thetweets, the chainsaws, the
chaos, the public fallout.
That's where the attention went,by design.
Russell Vought took advantage ofthose headlines to rewire the
(20:10):
system to evolve DOGE and spreadit quietly throughout the
bureaucracy.
Now it's turning up everywherein state legislatures, in budget
bills and the policies of thinktanks pushing the same
privatization agenda.
The protests that erupted duringMusk's tenure were a critical
response.
(20:31):
They proved that people werewatching and willing to speak
out, but the next phase of DOGEisn't loud.
It's quiet, calculated, anddesigned to endure, and it's not
alone.
From DOGE to the Big BeautifulBill, the pattern is the same.
Shrink public institutions,shift control, rebrand it as
(20:51):
reform, then move on before thepublic catches up.
That's why we can't afford todisengage.
Staying alert isn't easy in amedia environment built to
exhaust us, but the stakes arereal and this time they're
structural.
What we normalize now will shapegovernment for decades.
(21:12):
Over the next few weeks, I'mgonna dig into three agencies,
gutted by DOGE, U-S-A-I-D, theConsumer Financial Protection
Bureau, and the Department ofEducation.
These weren't random targets.
Each one served millions ofpeople or stood in the way of
powerful private interests.
USAID i's global aid program,stabilize regions, open markets,
(21:35):
and quietly supported USbusinesses.
CFPB cut into the profits ofpredatory lenders and the
Department of Educationchallenged for profit schools
and private equity.
We'll see how DOGE's cuts toU-S-A-I-D weakened Global Health
and Food Systems and undermineUS influence.
(21:56):
How changes that the CFPB leftconsumers more exposed to
financial abuse.
And how dismantling theeducation department sends
profits to corporations whileclosing doors for students.
Because behind every so-calledefficiency is a real human cost
and real corporate profit.
Thank you for listening.
(22:17):
If this episode helped you seeconnections you hadn't noticed
before, please share it withsomeone who you think might
benefit.
Subscribe wherever you listen topodcasts.
Consider leaving a review.
Until next time, stay curious,stay critical, and stay
connected.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of
Khannecting the Dots.
If you caught my last episode,you may remember I talked about
the Republican's Big BeautifulBill.
You know the one that turned outto be a lot less beautiful than
advertised?
Well, today I'm shifting focusto another Trump era program
that followed a similarplaybook, DOGE, the Department
(00:22):
of Government Efficiency.
This agency was billed asfighting waste and helping
ordinary Americans.
As usual, that's not quite howit played out.
Now you might be thinking, isn'tDOGE old news?
Didn't Musk leave months ago?
If only.
The truth is, the impact ofMusk's time at DOGE is still
(00:42):
being felt across the US and theprogram itself isn't dead.
It's just under new managementand arguably more dangerous than
ever.
So today, let's revisit whatDOGE was, what it was billed as,
and what impact it had oneveryday Americans.
First and foremost though, let'slisten to how the program was
(01:05):
sold.
(02:11):
That was the sales pitchdesigned to appeal to people fed
up with Washington dysfunction.
But behind the rally crowds andchainsaw stunts, something else
was happening.
The rich found a new way to getricher while everyday Americans
lost programs that had benefitedthem for years.
As with many things in Trump,2.0, DOGE was launched with a
(02:35):
lot of fanfare, headlines, boldspeeches, and plenty of
stagecraft.
The marketing was simple buteffective.
The government has been bloatedand wasteful for years.
We're gonna cut it down to size.
An efficient government?
Eliminate waste?
The promise of$2 trillion insavings by rooting out fraud in
(02:55):
Medicaid, social Security,Medicare, and other bloated
government programs?
These were things people couldget behind, and they did.
Polls showed majority support.
Even Democrats agreed thatfederal spending needed better
scrutiny.
Trump signed the executive ordercreating DOGE on January 20th,
and to lead it, he picked ElonMusk.
(03:18):
A choice that seemed logical onthe surface.
Who better to cut governmentinefficiency than a successful
businessman and the world'srichest man?
He would bring his business,know-how to the government and
make it as efficient as hiscompanies.
Of course, there was that littlefact.
Musk had just spent nearly$300million getting Trump and his
(03:40):
allies elected.
The largest known politicaldonation in American history.
Okay, so maybe he bought his wayinto government, but surely he
knew what he was doing right?
Turns out he did, but forhimself, not so much for the
country.
From the start, there werereports of massive conflicts of
(04:01):
interest.
Many of the agencies DOGEtargeted, NASA, the FAA,
Treasury, the Consumer FinancialProduction Bureau, either
regulated Musks' companies orrepresented potential
privatization and businessopportunities.
Meanwhile, programs servingworking families got cut with
little analysis of whether theyactually worked.
(04:23):
Before we dive into what DOGEactually did, let's talk about
what genuine government reformlooks like.
Because it's been done beforeand it looked very different.
In the nineties, presidentClinton tasked Vice President
Gore with something called theNational Partnership for
Reinventing Government.
Like DOGE it promised to makegovernment work better and cost
(04:46):
less.
Unlike DOGE, it actuallysucceeded.
Elaine Kamarck ran that programand now works at the Brookings
Institution.
In an interview with NPR, herassessment of DOGE was blunt.
"We cut that and they cutmuscle.
It's as simple as that." Here'show the Clinton era approach
differed.
(05:06):
They took six months digging in,talking with career public
servants, figuring out wherewaste really was and where cuts
would hurt.
They worked with people whoactually understood what each
program did.
When they found inefficientlaws, they worked with Congress
to change them.
Most lawmakers agreed becausethe proposals made sense and
(05:29):
were backed by evidence.
Clinton eliminated over 400,000federal positions, but he did it
strategically over seven years.
Targeting middle managementwhile preserving the services
people actually relied on.
Compare that to the nearly300,000 government related jobs
cut in 2025 alone.
(05:49):
A number cited by Forbes as atotal impact from DOGE driven
layoffs and contractor cuts.
These cuts have weakened thesense of government functions
and raised serious concernsabout stability and public
services.
Clinton's results (06:02):
four consecutive budget surpluses.
The national debt compared tothe size of the economy shrank
by a third.
The only balanced budgets since1969.
Kamarck's team faced zerolawsuits because they followed
the law and actually improvedhow things worked.
DOGE, on the other hand, faceddozens of lawsuits from day one.
(06:25):
Even some Republican senatorscriticized the chaos.
The difference wasn't just aboutmethod, it was about philosophy.
Clinton's team believedgovernment could work better
while still serving people.
But that takes patience,evidence, and a willingness to
fix what's broken, not justbreak what works.
(06:47):
The story DOGE told the publicwas bold, massive savings, fraud
uncovered government, finallyworking right.
But, when independent experts,journalists, and former
government officials lookedcloser, the reality was far less
impressive.
In one of his most audaciousclaims, Musk appeared in the
(07:08):
Oval Office and said there werepeople about 150 years old, even
over 200, collecting socialsecurity payments.
Trump repeated this in ralliesand even in the State of the
Union claiming that tens ofmillions of dead people were
getting benefits.
It sounded shocking.
The implication that socialsecurity was riddled with fraud
(07:28):
and only DOGE had uncovered it.
But here's what actuallyhappened.
DOGE sent in what Musk calledthe DOGE kids, mostly software
engineers, aged 19 to 24 with nogovernment experience.
They combed through socialsecurity's databases and saw
millions of people listed asover 100 years old.
They assumed it was fraud.
(07:50):
Michael Astrue, who ran SocialSecurity under both Bush and
Obama was blunt.
"The big claims are just flatout wrong.
It's just a product of sendingin a bunch of 20 year olds with
laptops who don't understandwhat they're seeing." What they
actually found were placeholderdates in very old records.
When death dates were missingoften because someone died
(08:11):
before electronic reportingexisted, the system defaulted to
numbers that made them appearimpossibly old.
Social Security already knewabout it.
Their own inspector general hadflagged this years earlier.
And out of millions of oldrecords, only about 44,000 were
receiving benefits, and most ofthose had documentation proving
(08:32):
they were alive.
Instead of admitting themistake, Musk double down.
Joking about vampires collectingsocial security.
Then there was DOGE's so-calledwall of receipts.
Their website, claiming billionsin savings from canceled
government contracts.
This was supposed to be the mainevidence of their success, how
they proved to the public theywere accomplishing their
(08:54):
mission.
But there was a problem, thenumbers just didn't add up.
Multiple news outletsinvestigated CBS, Fortune, the
New York Times, NPR, PBS, amongothers.
Here's what they found.
DOGE claimed$8 billion insavings from canceling an$8
(09:14):
million contract.
They listed the same$650 millioncontract three times triple
counting the savings.
They claimed$232 million fromending a contract worth just
$560,000.
They even took credit forcanceling a$1.9 billion contract
(09:34):
that Biden had already canceled.
And one CEO When asked by PBSabout his$10 million canceled
contract, responded,"we neverhad a contract.
It never happened." Turns out itwas a$100,000 credit line that
was never signed and neverexecuted.
NPR estimated that DOGE's totalclaim of$65 billion in savings
(09:58):
was actually closer to$2.3billion, and even that was
probably inflated.
When those errors came to light.
DOGE quietly deleted over 1000contracts from their website,
wiping out at least$4 billion inclaimed savings.
But the press conferences kepthappening.
The big numbers kept flashing.
(10:21):
So that begs the question, werethese just sloppy mistakes or
were they deliberate distortionsdesigned to cover up something
else?
Let's look at who actuallybenefited from DOGE because it
wasn't the American people.
While DOGE bragged about savingbillions, Musk's companies were
(10:41):
securing record breakinggovernment contracts.
And Federal ethics rulessupposed to prevent officials
from making decisions thatbenefit their businesses.
Musk did the opposite.
His companies have received atleast$38 billion in contracts,
loans, and subsidies over thepast two decades.
(11:01):
In 2024 alone, Tesla and SpaceXpulled in over$15 billion, and
during DOGE's 130 day run, thatnumber surged.
Take the FAA; while, DOGE wasfiring hundreds of employees.
Musk pushed them to cancel a$2billion Verizon contract and
switch to starlink.
(11:22):
He tweeted on Monday thatVerizon was putting air
travelers at serious risk.
By Thursday, 4,000 starlinkterminals were shipping to FAA
offices.
The Washington Post evenreported that Starlink was being
pushed on foreign nations aspart of the Trump
administration's tariffnegotiations.
At NASA, a$100 million SpaceXcontract dropped just weeks
(11:46):
after Musk took charge.
DOGE staff embedded inside NASAalso pushed for early
dismantling of the InternationalSpace Station.
A task SpaceX had already beencontracted to manage.
Most concerning though DOGEgained access to the treasury's
payment system.
That's the system that processesover$6 trillion annually.
(12:08):
That gave Musk's team insiderknowledge about government
contracts, payment schedules,and competitor relationships.
Another Washington Postinvestigation found DOGE had
accessed sensitive financialdata across seven major federal
departments containingcompetitors trade secrets and
sensitive regulatoryinformation.
(12:28):
One aerospace executive said"Somuch of what we submit to the
government is competitivelysensitive.
We assume it's protected.
Now we feel vulnerable." Privatecompanies held emergency
meetings, but no one wentpublic.
Because they were afraid theirown contracts would get
canceled.
And it wasn't just Musk.
(12:49):
Working with Russell VoughtTrump's budget director and
architect of Project 2025, DOGEbuilt a playbook for privatizing
the public sector step by step: fire experienced public workers. (12:57):
undefined
Let services deteriorate.
Generate complaints aboutinefficiency.
Propose private sectorsolutions.
Then award contracts to friendlycompanies.
And that last part, it's whatallowed entire sectors of
industry to flourish under DOGEBusiness Insider reported that
(13:19):
companies like Palantir andWells Fargo benefited
handsomely.
Palantir picked up frauddetection contracts for social
security and Medicaid.
Wells Fargo gained from weakenedconsumer protections as watchdog
agencies were hollowed out.
And defense contractors,according to the Guardian, saw
expanded budgets and fewerrestrictions as DOGE branded
(13:41):
oversight offices, redundant.
MSN reported that SocialSecurity Modernization was
handed to private firms withties to major GOP donors.
Work that used to be done insidethe agency.
DOGE wasn't just enriching ElonMusk.
It was building an entire DOGEeconomy, rewarding well
connected firms and punishing,dissent.
(14:03):
And when asked about conflictsof interest, the White House
said it was up to Musk himselfto decide when to recuse.
That isn't just the fox guardingthe hen house, it's allowing the
fox to be the one issuing themeal tickets.
While Musk's companies and theirallies were cashing in.
DOGE's cuts hit real people.
(14:23):
Hard.
Let's talk about what thoseefficiencies actually meant.
DOGE cut$1 billion in fundingthat went directly to food
banks.
Feeding South Florida lost 40%of its budget.
That's$15 million goneovernight.
Their CEO told CBS.
"We've been seeing empty rackssince February.
(14:44):
These cuts have really made animpact on family's ability to
thrive." At the same time DOGEannounced plans to cut up to
7,000 social Security jobs, 12%of the entire workforce, and
shut down dozens of fieldoffices.
Think about that for a minute.
The disability determinationprocess already took 236 days On
(15:05):
average.
More than a million people werewaiting for appeals.
And tens of thousands were dyingwhile they waited.
Research shows that when localSocial Security offices close,
disability benefit approvalsdropped 13%.
Not because fewer people needhelp, but because the system
becomes too hard to navigate.
At the VA, DOGE cut$2 billionacross hundreds of contracts.
(15:29):
Some of those contracts weretied to the PACT Act, the law
that expanded healthcare forveterans with toxic exposure.
These are people who served thiscountry, and got sick because of
it.
DOGE decided their care wasinefficient.
The education department lostnearly 2000 employees.
DOGE also slashed$4 billion inmedical research grants.
(15:52):
Even though every dollarinvested in that research
returns$2.50 in economicactivity and supports over
400,000 jobs.
Without government funding forresearch, private companies will
take over and monetize any newresearch findings.
A boon for them for sure, butterrible for everyday citizens.
(16:13):
According to the citizens forresponsibility and ethics,
DOGE's direct cuts to federalpositions, eliminated more than
50,000 jobs and destroyed$10billion in economic activity.
But that's just part of thepicture.
Like I mentioned earlier,broader policies under DOGE
triggered cascading job lossesacross contractors and state
(16:33):
administered programs.
Bringing the total estimatedimpact close to 300,000 jobs.
For many communities, thiswasn't about leaner government,
it was about lost livelihoods,closed offices, and vital public
services simply disappearing.
Meanwhile, Musk's companiessecured$5 for every$1 DOGE
(16:55):
claimed to cut.
Let that sink in.
For every dollar supposedlysaved$5 flowed to companies
connected to the guy running theoperation.
Now, here's the thing.
This story doesn't end when ElonMusk left in May.
DOGE didn't disappear.
It evolved.
(17:16):
On May 30th, trump held aceremonial sendoff and gave Musk
a commemorative key.
Musk's parting words.
"The DOGE mission will onlystrengthen over time as it
becomes a way of life throughoutthe government".
By the time he left, hiscompanies had secured billions
in new contracts, and theagencies meant to regulate them,
regulate him were gutted.
(17:38):
But most importantly, he leftbehind a template others could
follow.
Russell Vought has nowcompletely taken over.
Where Musk brought chaos andchainsaws.
Vought brought spreadsheets andstrategy.
He embedded mini DOGE's acrossthe federal government.
Full-time insiders working atthe very agencies they're
supposed to dismantle.
(18:00):
The 2026 federal budget includesfunding to make those DOGE
operatives permanent in-houseconsultants with institutional
staying power.
And it's not just Washington, atleast 26 states have created
their own versions of DOGE.
Florida launched of DOGE taskforce targeting things like
transportation, surtax andclimate change mitigation
(18:21):
efforts in democratic leaningareas of the state.
Texas created"lone starefficiency".
They're using audits, fines, andlegal threats to get everything
from green energy programs toworker protections.
And remember, most statesalready have to balance their
budgets.
This isn't about spending, it'sabout power and cutting the
(18:43):
program some people simply don'twant to exist.
The model is spreading becauseit works.
Not for taxpayers, but for thepeople who profit when
government fails.
So did DOGE accomplish itsmission?
Here's what's important toremember.
Efficiency was never the goal.
(19:05):
As critics and protestorspointed out, DOGE wasn't about
better government.
It was about consolidation ofpower and profit.
In that sense, it wasn't apolicy failure.
It was a massive success.
When a billionaire spends$300million to help elect a
president, then gets handcontrol over the very agencies
that regulate his business.
(19:26):
That's not reform, that's atransaction.
And it worked exactly asintended.
Musk and Republican allieswalked away with billions in new
contracts.
agencies that might challengetheir interests were gutted.
Programs that serve everydayAmericans were cut to pay for
it.
The inefficiency wasn't ingovernment.
(19:48):
It was in the fact that publicresources weren't flowing to
private interests fast enough.
And while that machine quietlyran in the background, the
spectacle unfolded upfront, thetweets, the chainsaws, the
chaos, the public fallout.
That's where the attention went,by design.
Russell Vought took advantage ofthose headlines to rewire the
(20:10):
system to evolve DOGE and spreadit quietly throughout the
bureaucracy.
Now it's turning up everywherein state legislatures, in budget
bills and the policies of thinktanks pushing the same
privatization agenda.
The protests that erupted duringMusk's tenure were a critical
response.
(20:31):
They proved that people werewatching and willing to speak
out, but the next phase of DOGEisn't loud.
It's quiet, calculated, anddesigned to endure, and it's not
alone.
From DOGE to the Big BeautifulBill, the pattern is the same.
Shrink public institutions,shift control, rebrand it as
(20:51):
reform, then move on before thepublic catches up.
That's why we can't afford todisengage.
Staying alert isn't easy in amedia environment built to
exhaust us, but the stakes arereal and this time they're
structural.
What we normalize now will shapegovernment for decades.
(21:12):
Over the next few weeks, I'mgonna dig into three agencies,
gutted by DOGE, U-S-A-I-D, theConsumer Financial Protection
Bureau, and the Department ofEducation.
These weren't random targets.
Each one served millions ofpeople or stood in the way of
powerful private interests.
USAID i's global aid program,stabilize regions, open markets,
(21:35):
and quietly supported USbusinesses.
CFPB cut into the profits ofpredatory lenders and the
Department of Educationchallenged for profit schools
and private equity.
We'll see how DOGE's cuts toU-S-A-I-D weakened Global Health
and Food Systems and undermineUS influence.
(21:56):
How changes that the CFPB leftconsumers more exposed to
financial abuse.
And how dismantling theeducation department sends
profits to corporations whileclosing doors for students.
Because behind every so-calledefficiency is a real human cost
and real corporate profit.
Thank you for listening.
(22:17):
If this episode helped you seeconnections you hadn't noticed
before, please share it withsomeone who you think might
benefit.
Subscribe wherever you listen topodcasts.
Consider leaving a review.
Until next time, stay curious,stay critical, and stay
connected.
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