Government Waste

Christian Britschgi | From the January 2026 issue

As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) transitioned from internet meme to real-life government reform effort, the agency claimed it would achieve many far-reaching, seemingly improbable goals.

It was going to slash $2 trillion in federal spending, eliminate burdensome and unconstitutional regulations, upgrade the federal government's "tech stack," evict the woke deep state, and, time permitting, balance the budget.

When it launched, both DOGE supporters and critics seemed to believe the agency was striving for the wholesale dismantling of the federal government. As the dust settles one year later, we can get a more accurate sense of how much DOGE has done to shrink and streamline the federal government.

Its cost-cutting efforts have been unsuccessful, but it did accomplish quite a bit toward shrinking the federal government's workforce. The Trump administration's........

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