Tracking DOGE

[rareboy]

And now the ruling on Voice of America. But while the judge says that Trump can't shut it down, it is likely already totally destroyed.

And they will make sure it can't be resurrected again.

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America

A federal judge has agreed to block the Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America, the 83-year-old international news service created by Congress. U.S.

apnews.com

 

[cityboy-stl]

And now the ruling on Voice of America. But while the judge says that Trump can't shut it down, it is likely already totally destroyed.

And they will make sure it can't be resurrected again.

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America

A federal judge has agreed to block the Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America, the 83-year-old international news service created by Congress. U.S.

apnews.com

Yeah, this is a problem with these court rulings. It just takes too long for the answer to come down. By the time it does, the damage is irreversible. VOA was dismantled 6 weeks ago, it should have been stopped the next day.

 

[TX-Beau]

You can abuse the system either way. Immediate rulings also mean immediate enforcement of every bigoted thing before there can be an appeal.

 

[rareboy]

From Robert Reich, who has been tracking this.

 

[KaraBulut]

From Robert Reich, who has been tracking this.

Musk has discovered what most people who deal with the Federal Government learn: they're understaffed and highly dependent on "off-the-book" contractors who aren't in the official headcount.

When things start to fall apart, they're going to end up hiring the FTEs back as contractors for a higher wage. But they will have accomplished one of their unspoken goals: to de-unionize the agencies and remove legislative protections that would apply if they were government employees.

 

[rareboy]

So tired of these grifters and hucksters.

 

[KaraBulut]

The laid off government workers talk about their career in waste, fraud and abuse, compliments of The Daily Show.

 

[KaraBulut]

So tired of these grifters and hucksters.

He revised it down to $160 billion (and that number will likely decline).

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/elon-musk-trump-cabinet-doge-tesla.html

• DOGE chief Elon Musk claimed that his federal workforce slashing initiative so far has saved $160 billion — far less than his original projections.
• The billionaire Tesla CEO gave a sort of farewell to President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. He has said that going forward, he plans to work just one or two days a week on his Department of Government Efficiency.
• Musk last fall said that DOGE would slash “at least $2 trillion” from the federal budget, but later admitted that target was unlikely to be met.

This is typical pseudo-genius Musk: overpromise, underdeliver, create chaos in the process. Perfect for the Trump Administration.

 

[KaraBulut]

Everytime a new pharmaceutical product is added to the market (i.e. new generic medication, new product approved by FDA or new formulation of an existing med), there's a group of employees at HHS who add that product to a database that is used by all hospitals and pharmacies in the US.

DOGE laid off the people who maintain that database, so all healthcare organizations who distribute medications (which is pretty much all hospitals and pharmacies) won't be getting updates until someone figures out how to fix the mess that DOGE created.

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-vitals-8c345330-204f-11f0-91e8-4d446e27560b.html?chunk=1&utm_term=twsocialshare#story1

FDA databases that physicians and public health experts rely on for key drug safety and manufacturing information have been neglected due to DOGE-directed layoffs, leaving health professionals flying blind on basic questions about certain drugs they're prescribing, current and former FDA officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Information gaps that have become a hallmark of the workforce reductions and Kennedy's sweeping reorganization of federal health agencies are putting patient safety at risk, according to agency employees.

"It's really a nightmare," said a current FDA official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. "Things that used to function are no longer functioning."

The big picture: The FDA not only reviews drugs for safety and efficacy but acts as a nerve center churning out information in real time when there are adverse events, quality problems or drug shortages.

 

[KaraBulut]

He revised it down to $160 billion (and that number will likely decline).

This is typical pseudo-genius Musk: overpromise, underdeliver, create chaos in the process. Perfect for the Trump Administration.

A conservative think tank just came out with a different number for DOGE: $5 billion.

Trump's government has spent MORE money in the first 4 months of the year than Biden did 2023 or 2024. The employee cuts that President Musk and semi-pro golfer Trump have bragged about has cost the government an estimated $135 BILLION dollars in lost revenue, largely because they fired the teams of employees whose job it was to look for waste, fraud and abuse.

Only 4% of the annual government expense is full-time employees. DOGE didn't make a dent in federal spending.

DOGE made a mess that someone is going to have to cleanup and it's going to be expensive to fix.

The first 100 days of DOGE: "not successful by any means”

The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service says DOGE’s firings, rehirings and putting employees on leave have cost as much as $135 billion.

www.marketplace.org

“Trump's Department of Government Efficiency went from promising $2 trillion in savings to $1 trillion to $150 billion,” said Jessica Riedl, a senior fellow focused on budget, tax and economic policy at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank. “And they really only verified about $5 billion in savings or less than one-tenth of 1% of federal spending. Clearly, this is not successful by any means.”...

“When we look at how much the federal government has spent this year, we see that it has spent more over during this calendar year than it did over the comparable period last year or the year before,” he said....

“One out of every $5 spent, it goes to Social Security. One out of every $4 spent goes to health insurance. So just off the bat, that's about almost half of the federal budget,” he said.

You read that right: spent more, not less.

 

[rareboy]

DOGE was only ever about data farming and benefitting teSSla and Spacex as well as some of the other billionaires.

And the chaos. It was about creating chaos and breaking the government so that the tech Bros can move in and privatize services.

And about the vendetta against DEI.

 

[rareboy]

A nice chart that clarifies what the real intention of DOGE is.

 

[fallsguy]

 

[cityboy-stl]

 

[rareboy]

 

[TX-Beau]

I'm so shocked.

 

[rareboy]

Seen on Bluesky:

Hey Rand Paul, how is your state doing today ?????

At least 27 are dead in Kentucky after severe weather alerts were delayed overnight because of DOGE cuts.

 

[KaraBulut]

The article:

Kentucky NWS faced staff cuts before deadly tornado hit: ...

Amid storms that killed 27, the NWS office in Jackson, Kentucky, reportedly scrambled to cover overnight forecasts on Friday.

www.newsweek.com

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Jackson, Kentucky, lacked a permanent overnight forecaster on Friday amid severe storms threatening the eastern U.S., according to reports.

Why It Matters

The White House and Elon Musk-spearheaded Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been seeking to reduce government spending, leading to layoffs across numerous government agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the NWS.

What To Know

This gap resulted from staffing cuts tied to DOGE, according to a New York Times report, citing Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the union that represents NWS workers.

This is why weather forecasting and early warning systems should be a government service and not privatized. Even though DOGE cut their staff, and ended 24 x 7 staffing, the National Weather Service staff pulled together, brought in staff from other offices and they worked overnight to monitor the storms. Would a for-profit corporation have done that?

Elections have consequences, even in those places that voted for the winner of that election.

 

[rareboy]

Of course DOGE and TrumpCo. won't care if people die.

As long as the billionaires get their tax cut.

And honestly, I'll bet that because it is a red state that voted heavily for Trump, there probably won't be a fraction of the second-guessing and justified rage that there would have been if the Dems had done this.

Not that they would,

 

[TX-Beau]

It depends. Not every Toad supporter is in the horde. There are quite a few who are not engaged enough to bother listening to him or paying attention to who they elect; they just vote by rote and tradition, and they are getting burned. They are not going to sit quietly by, which is what the political Trogs are all afraid of. Hurt them, and they will pay attention, and then the Trogs lose Congress.

Anecdote, my Uncle, a lifelong pub, who watched the value of his retirement plummet just a few weeks ago, bemoaning the lack of a Libertarian candidate. Will he vote for a Democrat? Depends on the Democrat, but he's said he won't vote for whoever Toad pushes.

They threatened his money, and he saw Jesus. It's kinda disgusting since the racism and un-Constitutionality bother him not at all.