- Federal spending is surging regardless of DOGE’s aggressive cuts, climbing 6% year-over-year in Trump’s first months. In the meantime, the true price of layoffs, authorized fights, and rehiring could also be costing the taxpayers greater than the cuts themselves.
Regardless of Elon Musk’s DOGE promising trillions of {dollars} in financial savings, federal spending continues to be climbing.
The fee-cutting group has ripped by way of the federal government, shuttering companies, shedding staff, and canceling billions of {dollars} value of contracts. In accordance with DOGE’s official web site, the division, which is unofficially headed by billionaire Musk, has saved the federal government roughly $160 billion.
Nonetheless, these reported financial savings have but to provide a lot significant discount in general authorities spending this yr, based on the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Funds Mannequin, which displays weekly Treasury knowledge.
As an alternative, the mannequin exhibits authorities spending is up year-over-year within the 4 months since Donald Trump turned president. Complete outlays climbed 6.3% (about $156 billion) since Trump took workplace in contrast with the primary 4 months of 2024, the report discovered. Even after adjusting for inflation, the federal authorities has recorded an extra $81.2 billion in spending over the identical interval, mannequin director Kent Smetters advised Politico.
A DOGE spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s request for remark, made outdoors regular working hours.
DOGE’s cuts might price greater than they save
Musk, who served as an unpaid “special government employee” advising DOGE, has already mentioned he plans to vacate the White Home and can seemingly step down in late Could. Throughout his tenure, he turned the face of DOGE and spearheaded a lot of the group’s aggressive cuts to the federal workforce.
Nonetheless, critics argue Musk’s cuts might have generated extra waste than they’ve eradicated. A lot of DOGE’s essential financial savings have been made by dramatically slashing the headcount within the federal workforce.
About 250,000 federal workers have both departed or are slated to depart their jobs. That tally consists of over 112,000 who enrolled within the deferred-resignation program, per a Politico overview of earlier reviews and administration sources, in addition to roughly 121,000 company staffers who’ve been terminated, in accordance to a CNN evaluation.
This mass exodus of federal staff might cut back wage obligations, however it additionally threatens the federal government’s capability to carry out important work, together with gathering income from tax audits.
The Partnership for Public Service estimates that DOGE’s actions could also be costing taxpayers round $135 billion. With the federal workforce of two.3 million drawing $270 billion in annual payroll, Max Stier, chief government of the nonprofit, argues that the mixed expense of firing and rehiring workers, inserting them on paid depart, and the ensuing productiveness losses quantities to roughly half that payroll complete.
“We do need to have our government work better, but the approaches that have been adopted so far are taking us in the exact wrong direction,” Stier beforehand advised Fortune.
“The tip consequence might be that the American public might be holding the bag as Elon Musk goes again to his personal enterprises,” he mentioned.
DOGE’s unsure financial savings
DOGE’s financial savings claims have additionally come beneath scrutiny. The group’s figures have constantly included inaccuracies and inflated numbers, stoking criticism for the group’s chaotic strategy and lack of presidency experience.
The group publishes a part of their financial savings publicly by way of their web site’s “Wall of Receipts,” which lists some canceled contracts, grants, and actual property. Nonetheless, DOGE says the receipts offered on the web site solely symbolize roughly 30% of the total financial savings, making the top-line determine unverifiable.
Even the chosen financial savings offered by DOGE for public overview have been unreliable. For instance, the group eliminated a number of contracts from its receipt wall after media investigations forged doubt on their validity. In a single occasion, DOGE downgraded its greatest contract from $8 billion to $8 million when the seller clarified that the $8 billion determine was seemingly a clerical mistake.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
