Latest news with #governmentEfficiency
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
DOGE promised to make government more efficient. Workers say they are wasting more time than ever
Staff across federal agencies said that red tape implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency is wasting more time than ever. Workers at 19 agencies revealed how sweeping changes brought in by DOGE — Elon Musk 's team that pledged to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse — have instead resulted in delays for the most basic transactions and projects put on hold for months, The Washington Post reports. 'People are so demoralized, anxious and sleep deprived,' a NASA employee told the outlet. 'Nobody is working at top efficiency.' Employees at the State Department, Social Security Administration, National Institutes of Health and the Federal Aviation Administration were among those feeling the strain as DOGE laid off staff and brought in new hurdles, impacting financial and policy protocols. One staffer at the State Department told The Post that hiring an international vendor for an event required multiple layers of additional sign off because of the administration's requirement to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion from government. The vendor refused to sign paperwork confirming that it did not promote DEI, resulting in the staffer having to go through several rounds of sign-off to secure the contract. The process would have typically taken a day but instead took an entire week, according to the outlet. In response, the State Department told The Post that it would 'never apologize for putting processes in place to ensure taxpayer dollars are used correctly.' While many federal workers told the newspaper they supported scrutiny of how the government spends taxpayer money, the reality was running 'counter to the goal of efficiency.' An employee at the Federal Aviation Authority said that the new process for payment systems means that staff must now write statements justifying all expenditures, from bigger expenses to ordering pens and pencils. It has slowed down the process of getting windows cleaned at air traffic control towers, the employee said. Purchase orders that would take 15 to 20 minutes now take up to 2 hours. 'These are things that people don't think about, but clean windows are crucial for controllers,' the employee told the outlet. Meanwhile at some parts of the National Institutes of Health, one staffer revealed that grants must be fed through an AI tool to detect references to 'DEI, transgender, China or vaccine hesitancy.' Staff must also check that grant recipients are not on the list of institutions that President Donald Trump has targeted, including Harvard, Changes at the Social Security Administration pushed through by DOGE are also causing 'chaos' after the team reassigned central-office workers to take lower-level positions, according to The Post. In February, the agency outlined plans to cut 7,000 jobs. Staff are 'overburdened' as they have reportedly been taken off normal duties in order to train new staffers. 'You now have half the staff with very little knowledge of how to do the work,' a relocated staffer told the outlet. 'And the other half of staff overwhelmed with work and unable to really train or mentor these new folks.' The agency said that the reassignment of approximately 2,000 staff 'has not caused disruptions.' A statement said the reassignment of the staffers would 'further accelerate the progress the agency is making.' Responding to the claims made in The Post 's reporting, White House spokesman Harrison Fields said that 'President Trump is curbing government waste and reforming a system that has long burdened American taxpayers' through DOGE. 'Anyone resistant to these critical reforms has had ample opportunity to step aside, but the work of DOGE will press forward unobstructed,' he added.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump's three-word reaction to Musk's reduced DOGE role
Elon Musk has officially stepped down from his role in Donald Trump's administration bringing an end to one of politics' most unconventional partnerships. Musk, 53, joined the Trump administration four months ago to lead the newly created DOGE aimed at increasing governmental efficiency and productivity. Backed by nearly $300 million in political spending to help re-elect Trump, Musk was granted sweeping authority to slash federal bureaucracy and reshape government operations. However, behind the scenes, their relationship was riddled with mistrust and miscommunication. 'Was it all bull[expletive]' Trump reportedly asked, expressing doubt over Musk's pledge to slash $1 trillion in government spending. At first, the relationship appeared strong. Trump regularly praised Musk, calling him '50 percent genius, 50 percent boy' - and at times, '90 percent genius, 10 percent boy,' the Wall Street Journal reported. Musk was a frequent presence at the White House, as the two held long, informal dinners, with the Tesla CEO sometimes confusing Trump with his eccentric humor, according to White House officials. But as Musk began cutting foreign aid, trimming agencies and downsizing the federal workforce, tensions with Trump's inner circle escalated. Musk bypassed top aides, made unilateral decisions, and kept his plans secret - even from the president's chief of staff, Susie Wiles. In addition, Trump's advisers were often blindsided by DOGE's actions, learning about layoffs or data requests through news reports, according to the White House aides. Internal clashes only intensified, prompting Trump to ask Wiles to play a more 'hands-on' role in managing Musk. The SpaceX founder also clashed with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over air traffic controller cuts and Secretary of State Marco Rubio protested after Musk slashed USAID without consultation. He also reportedly resisted White House vetting for DOGE staff and showed preference for advice from close allies like Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff, and Katie Miller, his DOGE lieutenant and Stephen's wife. In the spring, Musk publicly attacked Republican Senator Todd Young, calling him a 'deep state puppet' just as Trump was lobbying him to support Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. Vice President JD Vance eventually had to intervene, urging Musk to delete the inflammatory post, which he did, but the damage had been done. 'White House officials picked up the pieces,' a Trump adviser said. The relationship further frayed when Musk involved himself in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Despite warnings from Trump's team that his candidate, Brad Schimel, would lose, Musk insisted polling showed otherwise, and after Schimel's poor town hall and overwhelming loss, Trump distanced himself from the race. Behind the scenes, Musk was also pushing back against Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs, calling them dangerous for the global economy. He called business leaders to lobby against them and told advisers Trump was receiving bad advice. Though Trump stood firm on tariffs, Musk grew increasingly irritated - especially after learning Musk received a classified Pentagon briefing on China. It was the most frustrated they'd seen him, two administration officials said, with Trump questioning whether it was a conflict of interest due to Musk's defense contracts. Meanwhile, Musk grew more absent from the White House. Initially present five to seven days a week, his visits dropped to three, then to only occasionally. At a cabinet meeting earlier this spring, Musk shocked officials by venting about how much damage his political role was causing to Tesla. Musk claimed the officials 'had no idea' how much damage was being done to his cars, a witness said. Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly responded saying she would prosecute every criminal they could catch, the Wall Street Journal reported. By May, Trump learned Musk's departure was imminent - but not the exact timing, which was later revealed in a social media post. Musk told aides he needed to 'get some heat off me and my companies,' amid a sharp decline in Tesla profits and setbacks at SpaceX. Despite the turmoil, Trump requested a final 'friendly farewell' meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, with the president claiming, 'Elon is not really leaving. He's going to be back and forth. DOGE is Done,' former Trump advisor Steve Bannon told the Daily Mail on the day of Musk's departure, tying up the Elon-run effort. As Trump bid farewell to Musk in the Oval Office, the billionaire wore a shirt describing himself as the 'Dogefather,' indicating his desire to be remembered as the father of a political movement he hoped would continue. 'This is not the end of DOGE but really the beginning,' he said, promising that the DOGE team would only get stronger. The president agreed. 'Elon's really not leaving, he's going to be back and forth i think ... it's his baby,' Trump said. Today, DOGE employees have been sent to different departments, and are quietly working within the system. Some of them view themselves as more missionaries than mercenaries, and even as Musk's public role fades, they expect the work to go on. The work of cutting government waste and dismantling the 'administrative state,' one of Bannon's biggest priorities, would continue in the Office of Management and Budget which is 'where DOGE is housed' to begin with, he said. OMB director, Russ Vought, who helped co-author Project 2025, remains engaged with the efforts, but ultimately the traditional hierarchy of the federal government has snapped back into place. Some of Trump's most visible cabinet members view the DOGE brand as a net positive, as they have worked to implement it into their departments.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Kent County Council to be subject of Reform's first Doge audit
Reform has announced it will send its first Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) team into local party said the first council to be audited will be Kent County Council, one of the councils the party took control of in May's local a statement released late on Sunday, party chairman said it would be "led by one of the UK's leading tech entrepreneurs", although it is not yet known who that leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in Kent said he believes it will be "more performance than substance". Reform said a team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will "visit and analyse" local follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending. Billionaire Musk was involved but has since left his position spearheading the the elections on 1 May the party took control of eight authorities from the Conservatives, along with Doncaster and Durham from Labour. What is Doge and why has Musk left?Trump says Elon is "not really leaving"Five ways world's richest man has changed White HouseMr Yusuf said: "For too long British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole. Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this."As promised, we have created a UK D.O.G.E to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Starting with Kent, our team will use cutting edge technology and deliver real value for voters." But Antony Hook, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Kent County Council, questioned the need for a team of outside told BBC Radio Kent: "We have at KCC a governance and audit committee, that was due to have its first meeting since the election next week."Reform have cancelled it."The health and scrutiny committee was meant to meet, Reform have cancelled it. Reform have cancelled most of the committee meetings for this week or next week, without any explanation."They haven't even named who their nominees are to chair these important committees are."If Reform were serious about making the council work well they would be getting their councillors to do this job, not bringing in unnamed anonymous people who haven't been elected."
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Elon Musk Doesn't Agree With Every Trump Administration Action
Elon Musk—a key adviser to President Donald Trump who left his formal role in the government Friday—said in an interview with CBS News earlier in the week he thought criticism of his Department of Government Efficiency was 'unfair' and said he doesn't want to 'take responsibility for everything this administration's doing.' President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk on May 30, 2025 inside the ... More Oval Office at the White House in Washington. During an interview with CBS News, Musk initially shied away from questions about the impact of Trump's tariffs on his businesses before openly discussing DOGE and what he said were 'unfair' criticisms. 'If there was some cut, real or imagined, everyone would blame DOGE,' Musk told CBS News' David Pogue. He went on to discuss the administration more broadly, saying, 'it's not like I agree with everything the administration does … So it's like, I mean, I agree with much of what the administration does. But we have differences of opinion.' Musk said he doesn't want to 'take responsibility for everything this administration's doing,' but if he brought up his disagreements publicly it 'creates a bone of contention,' saying, 'I'm a little stuck in a bind.' On Tuesday, CBS News released a clip of the interview in which Musk criticized the 'big, beautiful bill' Trump has been advocating for in Congress. The clip showed Musk saying he was 'disappointed' about the bill, which he said 'increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.' The comments quickly made headlines, and the following day Musk confirmed his official departure from the government. Musk endorsed Trump and became a megadonor after an assassination attempt on the president while he was campaigning in July, and Musk ended up giving more than $200 million to help Trump get elected. After he won a second term in November, Trump announced Musk would lead the Department of Government Efficiency, which the president said would 'slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.' Musk became a special government employee—which limited his service term to 130 days—when Trump was inaugurated, and he began the work of slashing the federal workforce and spending. DOGE's work—which included laying off hundreds of thousands of federal employees—drew bipartisan criticism and a number of legal challenges that are still playing out in court. Trump regularly praised Musk, though, and Friday when the pair were discussing Musk's government departure, Trump thanked Musk for the 'colossal change' DOGE spearheaded and said he thinks Musk will continue helping the government. 'I'll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and adviser' to Trump, Musk said Friday at a press conference with the president. $2 trillion. That's initially how much Musk said DOGE would save the government, though he later lowered the estimate to $1 trillion. DOGE's website claims it has so far saved the government an estimated $175 billion, though the website has frequently featured errors like counting contracts multiple times, using 'billions' when it meant to report 'millions,' and more, according to The New York Times. A reporter from CNN estimated last week that less than half of the $175 billion figure is supported with documentation on DOGE's sites. Trump privately questioned whether Musk and DOGE could follow through on the amount of cuts they said they would make, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal Saturday. Unnamed officials in the administration told the Journal Trump asked, 'was it all bullshit?' and wondered if Musk could actually cut $1 trillion in government spending. Forbes estimates Musk has a net worth of about $422.7 billion as of Sunday morning, making him the wealthiest person in the world. Trump Defends Spending Bill After Musk Says It 'Undermines' DOGE Cuts (Forbes) Elon Musk on DOGE and why he doesn't want to "take responsibility for everything the administration's doing" (CBS News) Trump Defends Spending Bill After Musk Says It 'Undermines' DOGE Cuts (Forbes) Trump Questioned Extent Of Musk's DOGE Cuts, Report Says (Forbes)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Musk's departure marks new chapter for government efficiency in border security
As the Department of Government Efficiency enters a new era with the departure of Elon Musk on Friday, it has caused numerous changes in recent months on matters of immigration and border security. "DOGE has helped to transform the Federal government by eliminating waste and bloat that has been ignored for years. DOGE is playing a key role in eliminating millions of taxpayer money being misspent, including contracts for illegal alien facilities that sat empty during the Biden Border invasion and funding for hotel rooms to house illegal gang members. DOGE's mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse continues!" Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday. In February, the Department of Homeland Security announced that they had gutted an $83 million contract for "an empty illegal alien facility during an invasion at the southern border" and the $80 million in FEMA funding to provide lodging for illegal immigrants in New York City, like the Roosevelt Hotel. Doge Staffing Shakeup As Elon Musk Hangs Up His Hat, White House Confirms In March, a contract to resume wall construction along seven miles of the border was cleared by DOGE. "Secretary Noem announced that we officially awarded the first [DOGE] approved contract to restart construction on President Trump's border wall," DHS posted on March 17. Read On The Fox News App DOGE also posted to X in April that it had found that many illegal immigrants who were on the FBI's terror watchlist and those who have a criminal history were taking out public benefits. Four on the terror watchlist and 901 other "paroled aliens" were "collecting Medicaid," 41 received unemployment benefits, 22 got student loans from the federal government and 409 got a "net" tax refund in 2024, according to the department. The cost of the tax refunds was $751,000, Medicaid cost $276,000, and the student loans totaled out to $280,000, the department said. Top 5 Most Outrageous Ways The Government Has Wasted Your Taxes, As Uncovered By Elon Musk's Doge "Under the Biden administration, it was routine for Border Patrol to admit aliens into the United States with no legal status and minimal screening," the post stated. "So far, CBP identified a subset of 6.3k individuals paroled into the United States since 2023 on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center watchlist or with criminal records. These paroles have since been terminated with immediate effect. Despite having no other legal status, paroled aliens are able to file for work authorization and receive social security numbers." Outside of immigration and border security, DHS said the Coast Guard is expected to save $32.7 million by scrapping an information technology system that was deemed "ineffective." In a video posted in May about the partnership between DOGE and DHS, it said the funds are going to "frontline operations." "Another win for government efficiency at DHS!" DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement to Fox News Digital in April. Trump, Musk Get Support From Former Nfl Star Amid Criticism Over Doge Cuts, Other Issues "Continuing the crucial work of DOGE, the Coast Guard eliminated an ineffective IT program, saving over $32 million and focusing its resources where they're most needed to protect the homeland. The USCG continues to deliver on the President's priorities, maximizing its efficiency while securing our borders and maritime approaches," Noem added. DHS and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also recently announced a planned crackdown on illegal immigrants' use of public housing benefits. And last month, DHS announced that, in the spirit of cracking down on "waste, fraud and abuse," it was ending FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. Doge Discovers The Biden-mayorkas Illegal Migration Funding Machine "The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters," a FEMA spokesperson said in a statement at the time. "Under Secretary Noem's leadership, we are committed to ensuring that Americans in crisis can get the help and resources they need." Fox News reached out to DHS for additional comment. The changes come as President Donald Trump made major policy changes during the early days of his second term, which has led to a sharp decrease in encounters at the border and a continued crackdown on illegal immigrants with a criminal background in the U.S. interior. In total, DOGE has estimated it has saved $175 billion for taxpayers so far. Fox News' Greg Wehner and Preston Mizell contributed to this report. Original article source: Musk's departure marks new chapter for government efficiency in border security
