OPINION_ Congress Must Ensure DOGE's Work Not Done in Vain

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OPINION 

Congress Must Ensure DOGE's Work Not Done in Vain

(Dreamstime) 

By Josh Hammer 
Friday, 30 May 2025 09:06 AM EDT 
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On Wednesday evening, the world's wealthiest man announced that his sojourn in the nation's capital is almost over. 

"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President (Donald Trump) for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Elon Musk posted to X, the social media platform he owns. 

While Musk was quick to add that "the (Department of Government Efficiency) mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government," Musk's departure will represent the effective end of DOGE as we know it. As The Wall Street Journal reported, "much of DOGE's work will shift to the White House Office of Management and Budget," which is headed by Russell Vought. 

The DOGE team claims it identified about $175 billion in total savings. Given the federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal 2024 alone, that may seem like a mere drop in the bucket. And given that Musk himself once vowed to identify taxpayer savings in the trillions of dollars — albeit without much of a timeline attached to that pronouncement — it certainly is a bit disappointing. 

But consider some of the specific outrageous spending outlays identified by Musk's team as ripe for the cutting board: eye-opening domestic savings such as $382 million from alleged fraudulent unemployment benefits at the Department of Labor and astonishing extravagance on the foreign stage — for instance, $2 million for sex-change operations in Guatemala and $20 million for a "Sesame Street"-inspired early childhood initiative in Iraq. 

Such ideologically driven spending is emblematic of what Vought, in a Newsweek op-ed written two years ago during the Biden-era presidential interregnum, described as "the scourge of a woke and weaponized bureaucracy." 

The brief DOGE experiment, which uncovered tens of thousands of combined government contract and grant terminations that would shock the conscience of most Americans with any inclination toward sound fiscal stewardship, is proof that such a "woke and weaponized bureaucracy" isn't merely speculative — it really exists. 

There is probably a lot more, furthermore, where that $175 billion in flagged waste came from. And Vought, who has worked with Musk since last year, is the right man to continue the mission once Musk fully returns to the private sector. 

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READ MORE: https://www.newsmax.com/joshhammer/doge-congress/2025/05/30/id/1212947/ 

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