The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers

"In August, months after Elon Musk left the federal government, the director of the Office of Personnel Management offered the first hard estimate of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's impact on the civil service. The government would likely end 2025 with about 300,000 fewer employees than it had at the start of the year, he told reporters. Most resignations were attributable to the incentives DOGE had offered the federal workforce to resign their positions. The total figure amounted to one in eight workers."

"The true scope of DOGE's attack on the federal government remains unknown. While there is no reason to think it achieved meaningful cost savings or operational efficiencies, the ramifications of building a master database to track and surveil immigrants are just beginning to be felt, and its cadre of Musk protégés and tech entrepreneurs remain embedded in agencies throughout the executive branch."

More than 200 federal workers across dozens of agencies described widespread disruption from the Department of Government Efficiency's campaign. The Office of Personnel Management estimated the federal workforce would shrink by about 300,000 employees by the end of 2025, largely from resignation incentives. Hundreds of workers who resigned were later offered reinstatement. There is no evidence the campaign delivered meaningful cost savings or operational efficiencies. A master database was built to track and surveil immigrants, and Musk protégés and tech entrepreneurs remain embedded across agencies. The changes raise risks of privatized operations and a Silicon Valley 'move fast, break things' approach in government.

Read at WIRED