DOGE days: Musk and Trump tout cuts and fraud while their claims are debunked
A series of announcements by DOGE and claims by Musk and Trump about the agency’s efforts have crumbled under scrutiny, even as they’re repeated by the White House.
Elon Musk’s cost-cutting and fraud-finding apparatus, the Department of Government Efficiency, came out swinging in recent days.
The result? Two stunning strikeouts.
A series of announcements by DOGE as well as claims by Musk and President Donald Trump about the agency’s efforts have crumbled under scrutiny even as they’re broadly repeated by conservative pundits, sympathetic media and the White House.
Two of the most notable claims — around Social Security fraud and $8 billion savings found in a Department of Homeland Security contract — have been debunked. Meanwhile, Trump’s agenda is set to add to the federal government’s deficit well in excess of what DOGE is cutting.
“It’s amateur hour in their federal government,” said Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor who ran the Social Security Administration under President Joe Biden. “There’s unelected people that are being given powers to go through and rummage through our personal data for reasons that nobody can quite figure out yet. It’s not for efficiency.”
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