[javagram]

The vast majority of federal spending is tied to programs like social security, Medicare, and the DoD which DOGE didn’t cut.

DOGE actions appear to have been largely based on the chaotic whims of Elon in response to perceived slights and tweets sent to him and did not have any significant effect on the budget. They chased after ghosts previously investigated by IGs and found insignificant, such as dead people on the social security rolls.

Real budget reform proposals remain out there from CRFB and others, and perhaps some future administration will undertake them when social security becomes insolvent in a few years.

[Auracle]

Right, and the vast majority of most people’s budgets are their mortgage/rent. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t cut out that streaming subscription they don’t need when they’re accruing debt every year. Every bit helps.

[triceratops]

If their time and energy are limited, the highest impact actions would be reducing the mortgage/rent or increasing income. And it's questionable whether foreign aid is a "streaming subscription" or a "gym membership" expenditure. Assuming you regularly go to the gym maybe keeping it will help you get a better job.

[yibg]

Even that isn't what's happened here. If we continue the analogy it's more like stop paying for wifi, then later discover you need it for work so sign up again at and pay an extra fee.

There is so much conflation (maybe intentional, I dunno) between the goal of cutting spending and the method that DOGE employed. If DOGE went in methodically and actually cut waste and fraud I'd cheer them. What actually happened was a mixture of:

- Cutting things without knowing the details and then later having bring them back at extra cost (e.g. employees)

- Cutting things regardless of consequence based on ideological views (or just randomly?)

- Not actually saving anything and just lying about it