Brian Barrett: Just this week, I looked back on some of our early DOGE reporting to be reminded of how crazy those two months were. Just a little reminder to those who slept through the first six months of the year: A, I am jealous. You’re right.
Zoë Schiffer: You are doing well.
Brian Barrett: Department of Government Efficiency was created when Elon and Donald Trump met. Trump basically gave Elon free reign to do anything he liked, I am not exaggerating, in the federal government. Musk’s allies then took control of various agencies within the federal government. This included the Office of Personnel Management (which is the government’s human resource department) and the General Services Administration which was its IT tech department. From there they spread across the agencies, and are responsible for the chaotic early days of this administration. Massive job cuts were made, USAID was cut massively, and regulations were slashed – not always to good effect. Everyone in federal government had to send an email to the White House with 5 points about what they’d done that week. DOGE did not achieve its goals.
This was because the idea of cutting a trillion dollars out of the budget would have been impossible to achieve if you didn’t cut entitlement programs. DOGE, however, had no say in this, as they were beyond their control, plus it would also be politically unsustainable. So Zoë, what did they do?
Zoë Schiffer: Yes, the stated goal was to eliminate fraud, waste and inefficiency.
Brian Barrett: Abuse, fraud, wastage and abuse are all words that I would use.
Zoë Schiffer: Fraud and misuse. When I said it, I thought, “I don’t understand what you mean.”
