Since January, the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has been on a budget-slashing crusade to root out waste, fraud, and abuse. But last week, Democrats on a Senate investigation committee said DOGE has actually wasted billions in taxpayer dollars — especially through indiscriminate cuts and firings at several agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“With Elon Musk at its head for its first four months, it is unsurprising that DOGE modeled itself on a defunct corporate motto, seeking to ‘move fast and break things,’” stated the report, which was spearheaded by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut. “Yet DOGE seems to have stopped there, never taking the time to fix — let alone understand — the things it had broken.”
Through 54 pages, the report accused DOGE of wasting $21.7 billion in taxpayer dollars. The vast majority of that figure — $14.8 million — comes from costs associated with DOGE’s “fork in the road” program, an option floated to federal employees earlier this year that offered full pay and benefits until Sept. 30, 2025, if employees left their posts.
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
