More And More Questions Arise About The Supposed Efficiency Goals Of Musk’s DOGE

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Musk’s DOGE (“Department of Government Efficiency”) really has it all wrong. This group of non-federal employees insists that government waste is strangling the US economy, but the redistribution of funds isn’t actually making the US federal government more efficient — it’s benefiting the über wealthy with their insatiable appetite for accumulating larger and larger portfolios.

That end game is at odds with the desire of most US citizens, as data shows that people vote for policies that are egalitarian and economically redistributive. Egalitarian measures—which equalize rights, resources, and decision-making power in society—pass at a rate of 65.63% across blue and red states alike.

With Musk and DOGE at the helm — at least temporarily — the state of US politics for the next two years began to come into focus, and it does not look like a MAGA or Republican “golden age.”

Nate Cohn writes in the New York Times that “Trump and the Republicans today could be especially vulnerable, as so much of his political strength is built on the economy.”  With federal jobs frozen, medical research in jeopardy, wholesale data theft, loss of consumer protections, and indiscriminate firings, outcries have come from disparate sectors, each of which is stunned by the audacity with which Musk and his gang of socially inept computer geeks have torn through the fabric of the US federal government.

“How do you spell corruption?” workers chanted at the Federal Plaza at a New York City picket earlier this year. “E-L-O-N!”

Social Security is, Actually, One of the Most Secure US Federal Programs

Musk has continually posted, reposted, and endorsed incorrect or inflammatory claims on X that Social Security is fraudulent.

Florida has a lot of faults when it comes to equitable legislation for its citizens. But, with so many senior citizens residing and homesteading in the state, advocacy groups make a difference in everyday lives. We’ve got a local arm of The Alliance for Retired Americans, and they want you to know the truth — Elon Musk and Donald Trump have created some really big whoppers about Social Security. Check ’em out.

Lie 1: Social Security is the “Biggest Ponzi Scheme of all time.

Reality: Social Security is a social insurance program. Workers and employers pay in, money goes to the Social Security Trust Fund, and is paid out when due. Social Security has a Board of Trustees and professional actuaries who report annually on the health of the Trust Fund. It’s solvent and the benefits are guaranteed (unlike the stock market or a private equity fund). In 89 years, Social Security has never missed a payment.

Lie 2: “There’s a massive amount of fraud” in Social Security

Reality: A July 2024 report from Social Security’s inspector general confirmed that fraud is not widespread, concluding that less than 1% of payments that went out between 2015 and 2022 were improper. Social Security has several internal systems that are constantly looking to find and reduce fraud.

Lie 3: Social Security makes up a “majority of federal spending”

Reality: Social Security by law does not contribute to the deficit. It is a separate program from general federal spending. Funding is from workers and employers plus trust fund interest, and taxes from beneficiaries with high incomes.

Lie 4: “Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109” and “Having tens of millions of people marked in Social Security as “ALIVE” when they are definitely dead is a HUGE problem”

Reality: Fewer than 100,000 Americans over the age of 100 receive benefits—about the same number of people who have reached that age according to the US Census. There are safeguards in place to ensure that deceased individuals do not get benefits: funeral directors notify SSA of deaths immediately, and the agency also automatically stops payments for individuals aged 115 or older.

Lie 5: Social Security is used by Democrats “as a gigantic magnet to attract illegal immigrants and have them stay in the country.”

Reality: This is conspiracy theory nonsense. Undocumented immigrants are not allowed to apply for or collect Social Security benefits and they cannot vote in elections. Some employers of undocumented immigrants do pay Social Security payroll taxes for these workers. In 2022, these deductions added about $25 billion to the Social Security Trust Fund.

Lie 6: People pay in and the money “goes out immediately.”

Reality: There is a Social Security Trust Fund with nearly $3 trillion to pay future benefits.

Lie 7: Future Social Security obligations “far exceed” tax revenue.

Reality: The current Social Security Trustees Report states that there is a 3.5% revenue shortfall over the next 75 years equivalent to 1.5% of GDP. This is not the Chicken Little “far exceed” standard. The simple and fair solution is to increase revenues over time by making rich people like Elon Musk pay their fair share into the system.

Lie 8: People are living “way longer than expected.”

Reality: Sadly, there is a growing inequality of life expectancy in the United States. While the richest Americans are living longer, it’s not the case for many people who earn modest wages, have inadequate access to health care, or have high-risk jobs for example. This state of affairs is a national embarrassment. So no, Elon, people are not living “way longer.”

Who’s to Blame? Mr. Musk, Please Come to the Front of the Room

“The division of powers and the checks and balances have somehow fallen apart,” says Chris Dols, president of IFTPE Local 98 at the Army Corps of Engineers. “It is now up to us to follow through on our oath to the Constitution, to the government we serve, and the public we serve, to make sure that Elon Musk does not get away with this.”

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia determined that a coalition of 14 Democratic state attorneys general challenging Musk’s authority had demonstrated a clear need to shed light on the inner workings of his DOGE team. As a result, DOGE  has been ordered to hand over documents and answer questions about its role in directing mass firings and dismantling government programs.

That’s in addition to a ruling by Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who wrote that DOGE had all the signifiers of an agency that would typically be subject to laws like the Freedom of Information Act. Cooper ordered DOGE to produce records that a public ethics group had sued to obtain.

And don’t forget DC District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell’s decision to grant a temporary restraining order halting implementation of a vindictive executive order. Howell saw the executive order as an instance of President Trump using taxpayer dollars in government resources to “pursue what is a wholly personal vendetta, advancing such political payback is not something which the government has a cognizable interest,” she wrote. “This may be amusing in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where the Queen of Hearts yells, ‘Off with their heads!’ at annoying subjects and announces a sentence before a verdict. But this cannot be the reality we are living under.”