Government efficiency was the premise behind President Donald Trump’s DOGE initiative.
On the first day in office in his second term, he established the Department of Government Efficiency: DOGE.
In the days since, 148,937 government jobs have been eliminated. Many of the cuts were sudden and done to critical programs, and some argue they were done with little regard to the well-being of the people of this country.
The DOGE program and mission were established by Trump and led by Elon Musk to make bureaucracy more efficient.
But there are many political analysts, observers -- and people in the American public affected by the outcome -- who believe DOGE backfired and the “efficiency” was an illusion.
Some of the programs the president, DOGE and Congress wanted to dismantle were designed to protect consumers from fraud, eliminate waste in government and protect taxpayer resources.
Some worry that the cutbacks and elimination of those safeguards, in many ways, are having the opposite effect of “efficiency.”
If you look at the government agencies involved and the staff firings, layoffs, and reductions, as well as the massive budget cuts and programs that have been eliminated, they tell a very ominous story.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was shuttered by DOGE, and 1,480 jobs were cut. This is an agency that returned some $26 billion to the American people since 2011 and costs a fraction of that to run.
The long-term impact of DOGE also includes funding cuts to medical research.
The Trump administration slashed $4 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health and cut some 20,000 positions at the Department of Health and Human Services.
This is money that was going to go to universities, hospitals and research institutes tackling diseases, including cancer, diabetes and cardiac conditions. Medical experts say those cuts put the nation’s health at risk.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine called the cuts “poorly conceived” and said in no uncertain terms, “There is no investment that pays greater dividends to American families than our investment in biomedical research.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington warned that the funding cuts would be “nothing short of catastrophic for so much of the lifesaving research patients and families are counting on.”
Is there any way to rebound and offset those costs?
There have also been major cuts to the Department of Education, with overtures to close the department and pass things on to individual states. Educators say this is going to come at the expense of our children’s education.
When you look at the specifics, it’s all tied to Project 2025.
It’s expected that the education cuts will have a dramatic impact on low-income schools. It will cost those low-income schools alone some 180,000 teachers.
And studies prove federal subsidies and spending for job training and education increase lifetime earnings and boost long-term economic productivity. Again, educators say this makes the cuts counterproductive.
Trump also wants student loans to be handled by the Small Business Administration. The SBA was overwhelmed when swamped by loans during the pandemic, and there are grave doubts it can keep up with the bureaucratic challenges of handling student loans.
DOGE cuts also have a profound impact on the Department of Agriculture, which deals with food safety, food assistance and help for farmers.
Researchers say DOGE caused chaos at the USDA when it fired and attempted to rehire workers who were researching and combating the bird flu, which posed some very real risks. At the time, the bird flu had already cost the poultry industry $1.4 billion, hurt farmers and raised prices.
USDA programs also provide food to food-insecure families and support for farmers. USDA cut or paused some $1 billion in funding for local schools and food banks. Do local food banks have the wherewithal to pick up the slack, or is food insecurity only going to get worse?
There has been much debate about USAID – the U.S. Agency for International Development. Nearly all the agency’s 10,000 employees were fired, placed on indefinite leave or otherwise removed.
Trump and his allies claim the U.S. has needlessly sent money abroad “with no return for the American people.” That claim is debatable.
Another 11,000 IRS employees got caught in the DOGE cuts. An estimated $500 billion in revenue will be lost this year alone due to cuts at the IRS. Tax experts say these cuts undermine the ability of the IRS to enforce the nation’s tax laws fairly and equally.
And it’s been predicted that a possible 10% decline in tax receipts, amounting to more than $500 billion, could be lost because businesses and individuals may not pay taxes owed, because enforcement will be rolled back.
The Congressional Budget Office did an analysis and estimated that increased enforcement spending at the IRS would increase revenue by $200 billion over 10 years. That suggests the DOGE cuts are, once again, counterproductive.
This week on Politics & Power, attorney Max Stier, who is president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, joins me as we ask whether DOGE’s actions are indeed ill-conceived and chaotic. Is there “efficiency” in DOGE? And what will the cost be to the American economy and everyday Americans?
Catch it any time on demand on News4JAX+, News4JAX.com or our YouTube channel.