Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) is officially operating with the approval of U.S. regulators, but its aggressive cost-cutting tactics are fueling backlash across Washington.
While the administration claims the initiative has uncovered billions in fraudulent government spending, watchdog groups, state officials, and federal employees are now pushing back—some through lawsuits targeting Musk himself.
Watchdogs say D.O.G.E. exposes waste but politicizes the issue
For decades, government oversight experts have warned about waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending, frustrated that Washington has ignored the problem. When President Donald Trump put Elon Musk in charge of fixing it, many hoped this would lead to real accountability. But watchdogs now say D.O.G.E. is creating more problems than solutions.
“Elon Musk is saying we’ve got shocking amounts of fraud, and you’re right, we do. No one’s really cared until now,” said Linda Miller, a fraud prevention expert who previously worked for the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
But Miller and others say Musk’s approach is reckless. One of D.O.G.E.’s first major reports highlighted government-funded arts projects linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, claiming them as examples of wasteful spending. Some of those projects, however, were never actually funded by the agencies Musk accused.
“It makes the government sound like it’s a mockery,” Miller said.
Despite the controversy, Trump is standing by Musk’s efforts, saying at a press briefing this week that D.O.G.E. had already identified ‘billions and billions of dollars’ in fraudulent spending. But the White House did not provide specific numbers to back up that claim.
Musk targets government payments, calls system ‘insane’
One of D.O.G.E.’s biggest targets so far is the “Do Not Pay” system, a federal database meant to block fraudulent payments. The system is supposed to prevent payments to deceased individuals, sanctioned foreign nationals, and people barred from receiving federal funds.
Musk blasted the outdated system in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying the list of ineligible recipients wasn’t updated frequently enough and contained people supposedly still receiving benefits despite being 150 years old.
“There’s crazy things, like, just a cursory examination of Social Security and we’ve got people in there that are about 150 years old,” Musk said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
The scale of improper government payments is massive. In 2023 alone, the GAO reported that the federal government made an estimated $236 billion in improper payments, including overpayments, underpayments, and payments to ineligible recipients.
“There is absolutely waste, fraud, and abuse, and there are improper payments, and there are inefficiencies,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, director of government affairs at the Project On Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group. “And they just come up with all kinds of reasons that basically come down to ‘It’s too hard, and we don’t want to do it.’”
Musk is pushing for major updates to the “Do Not Pay” system, including automated fraud detection, real-time monitoring, and daily updates to prevent payments from slipping through the cracks.
Lawsuits accuse Musk of wielding too much power
Musk’s expanding role in federal government spending is now at the center of two major lawsuits. Legal challenges filed in Washington, D.C., and Maryland this week argue that Musk is exercising executive power without Senate confirmation, violating the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
D.O.G.E. was created through a Trump executive order—not through Congress—meaning it is not an official government agency. Despite that, Musk has been operating out of the White House, controlling federal budgets, and making key financial decisions.
The first lawsuit, filed by a group of federal employees, accuses Musk of holding unprecedented power over federal operations.
“His power includes, at least, the authority to cease the payment of congressionally approved funds, access sensitive and confidential data across government agencies, cut off systems access to federal employees and contractors at will, and take over and dismantle entire independent federal agencies,” the lawsuit states.
A second lawsuit, filed by a coalition of state governments, argues that Musk’s unchecked authority is destabilizing government operations.
They claim his role has created ‘mass chaos and confusion’ for state and local governments, federal employees, and the American people.
Legal experts say these cases could escalate all the way to the Supreme Court, potentially determining whether a president has the power to appoint an unelected official to control federal spending without Senate approval.
Musk takes over US Digital Services, fires staffers
Musk’s latest move under D.O.G.E. has triggered another controversy—the firing of federal IT workers from the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), an agency that has provided IT and cybersecurity support to the government since the Obama administration.
For weeks, USDS employees were left in limbo, unsure of their job status. But starting Friday, Musk’s team began issuing termination letters to staffers, citing Trump’s January 20 executive order that established D.O.G.E.
The termination letters, sent from “U.S. DOGE SERVICE”, stated:
“Due to the restructuring and changes to USDS’s mission, USDS no longer has need for your services.”
More than a dozen employees have already been dismissed, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The remaining USDS employees were separately told by the U.S. DOGE Service that they must report to a physical office by April 15.
Before Musk’s takeover, USDS played a key role in modernizing government systems, including the revamp of the federal student aid portal when it crashed last year under the Department of Education.
Healthcare workers are getting gutted
The Trump administration wiped out more federal health staff over the weekend, continuing a massive purge that has rattled the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and brought warnings from career officials and lawmakers.
The latest round of firings hit employees at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the office handling emergency preparedness and response, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
This comes after the administration axed roughly 3,600 probationary employees across HHS earlier in the week, with the CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH) among the first agencies hit.
The Department of Government Efficiency, run unofficially by Elon Musk, defended the layoffs on Friday, calling them strategic moves to streamline government. But inside HHS, officials painted a very different picture.
The cuts were described as chaotic and indiscriminate. Even some Trump-appointed officials said they had no idea which of their own employees were getting fired or why.
Among those suddenly terminated were officials at CMS working on Medicare and Medicaid reform, staff in the FDA offices overseeing prescription drugs and medical devices, and employees handling Obamacare implementation.
At the FDA, the layoffs included staff responsible for reviewing new medical devices, raising concerns that the approval process for critical healthcare technology could slow down.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), which handles public health emergencies, also suffered cuts. That move triggered sharp criticism from public health experts, who warned the government’s ability to respond to crises like bird flu could be seriously weakened.
Meanwhile, at the CDC, termination notices have already gone out to most of its public health fellows, including members of the Laboratory Leadership Service, who conduct key disease research.
A former HHS official called the cuts reckless, saying they are already dismantling the country’s frontline defense against health threats.
The purge isn’t over, and more terminations are expected
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