DOGE’s ambition is nothing short of inspiring: a $1 trillion deficit reduction and a 15% cut in federal spending without compromising critical government services. Skeptics may scoff, but the initiative’s leaders—a former rocket scientist as chief and a co-founder of Airbnb among its ranks—bring a proven track record of innovation and disruption. These are individuals willing to put their lives on hold to tackle a problem many deem intractable, driven by a vision to make government work for the people, not against them.
Already, DOGE has delivered concrete wins. Take the $1 billion wasted on an online survey for the National Parks Service with no feedback loop—a glaring example of bureaucratic excess. DOGE’s scrutiny exposed this absurdity, and its daily publication of findings ensures transparency, holding agencies accountable in real time. Mistakes? They happen—DOGE acknowledges them and corrects course swiftly, a stark contrast to the entrenched inertia of traditional government operations.
Fraud is a gaping wound in the federal system, and DOGE is applying a tourniquet. The Treasury Department, with its single bank account managing trillions, has historically rubber-stamped payments without verification—hundreds of billions in improper payments annually, including an estimated $500 billion in fraud. DOGE’s intervention has introduced basic accountability measures, demanding answers to who, where, how, and why money is disbursed. This isn’t ideology; it’s common sense.
Social Security, a lifeline for millions, is a prime focus. DOGE is meticulously eliminating duplicate and fraudulent Social Security numbers, a critical step when 40% of phone calls to benefit holders come from fraudsters attempting to hijack their information. Beyond fraud prevention, DOGE aims to streamline access to benefits, cutting through red tape that leaves retirees waiting nine months—and enduring mandatory training—just to exit the workforce. Protecting beneficiaries while enhancing efficiency? That’s a win-win.
The federal government’s operational chaos is staggering. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) juggles 700 disparate IT systems overseen by 27 chief information officers with no interoperability. The IRS employs 1,400 staff solely to provision cell phones and laptops—enough to outfit the entire agency in a month, yet they toil year-round. Across agencies, 4.6 million credit cards serve 2.3 million employees, and siloed systems allow loans to be issued to nine-month-old infants because birthdates aren’t cross-checked with Social Security data. DOGE is dismantling these absurdities, pushing for integrated systems and rigorous verification.
At the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), DOGE is challenging a status quo where researchers receiving grants see only 60% of funds, with universities skimming 40%. Under Trump’s vision, DOGE aims to boost that to 85%, ensuring taxpayer dollars fuel discovery, not overhead. This isn’t slashing for the sake of slashing—it’s reallocating resources to where they matter.
DOGE’s leadership—a former oil company CEO alongside tech and aerospace trailblazers—brings an outsider’s lens to a calcified system. Critics question their lack of government experience, but that’s precisely the point. Decades of insiders have failed to stem the tide of waste; fresh perspectives are overdue. These leaders aren’t beholden to the bureaucracy—they’re here to dismantle its worst excesses.
That is what I learned from the Fox interview. I learned that for far too long, the federal government has operated as a black box, hemorrhaging funds while citizens foot the bill. And in listening to this, I realize that the attacks on Tesla and DOGE are not just evil, they are political suicide.