Department of Government Efficiency

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Judge Rips DOGE Dig Into Social Security Records

Americans' personal information was compromised based only on suspicion, order says

(Newser) - In a biting ruling on Thursday, a federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order blocking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team from having access to personally identifiable information on Americans stored by the Social Security Administration. Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander said anyone on Musk's team...

You're 'Going to Have a Heart Attack,' Lawmaker Tells Crowd

GOP's Harriet Hageman is booed at Wyoming town hall, but she stands her ground

(Newser) - Town hall meetings have been getting raucous lately , and one in Wyoming on Wednesday night may have been the rowdiest yet. Attendees let GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman have it via shouts, profanities, and rounds of loud booing, but she let them have it right back.
  • The Cowboy State Daily estimates
...

'Offended' Judge Declines to Block One DOGE Takeover

Institute of Peace sued after showdown at its headquarters

(Newser) - A federal judge declined on Wednesday to stop Department of Government Efficiency's takeover of the US Institute of Peace, despite declaring herself offended by the heavy-handed approach of Elon Musk's aides. The independent nonprofit asked the judge to act in a lawsuit that described an illegal "takeover...

Judge: DOGE Cuts to USAID Were Likely Unconstitutional

He blocks Musk, DOGE from making further cuts

(Newser) - A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency. US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of...

Kristof: Musk Is Wrong, People Are Already Dying

Columnist predicts deaths will soar in undeveloped nations over aid cuts

(Newser) - Elon Musk has insisted that nobody has died as the result of slashed US foreign aid. "That is not true," writes columnist Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times . "In South Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, the efforts by Musk and President Trump are...

USPS Chief: DOGE Is Going to Help With 'Big Problems'

Louis DeJoy says agency will team up with Musk's group to cut 10K jobs, billions from budget

(Newser) - Postmaster General Louis DeJoy plans to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the US Postal Service budget, and he'll do that working with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, according to a letter sent to members of Congress on Thursday. DOGE will assist the USPS...

2nd Judge Orders Trump Administration to Rehire Workers

White House has not yet responded to this judge's order

(Newser) - A second federal judge on Thursday handed down an order requiring President Trump's administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies, slowing down for now the president's dramatic downsizing of the federal government. Both judges separately...

Judge Orders Thousands of Federal Workers Rehired

Ruling calls Trump administration's firing of probationary employees an illegal 'sham'

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered the government to rehire thousands of probationary workers fired after President Trump took office, reports the New York Times . Judge William J. Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said the mass firings were a "sham" and ordered the...

White House Reacts to Musk's Social Security Comments

Trump administration insists benefits won't be cut

(Newser) - Elon Musk sparked alarm Monday when he suggested the Department of Government Efficiency might make cuts to Social Security and other entitlement programs, and the Trump administration on Tuesday clarified that no cuts would be made to benefits that are collected under those programs.
  • Musk: "The waste and fraud
...

DC's New Feud Pits Elon Musk vs. Mark Kelly
DC's New Feud
Pits Elon Musk
vs. Mark Kelly
the rundown
Mar 11, 2025 12:03 PM CDT

DC's New Feud Pits Elon Musk vs. Mark Kelly

Face of DOGE called the senator and former astronaut a 'traitor' for trip to Ukraine

(Newser) - Elon Musk has picked a fight with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, and the former astronaut and ex-Navy pilot seems happy to oblige. Coverage:
  • The sniping began when Kelly posted a photo of his recent trip to Ukraine, writing that "what I saw proved to me we can'
...

WHO: Tuberculosis Could Surge After Aid Cuts
WHO: Tuberculosis
Likely to Surge After Aid Cuts
the rundown
Mar 10, 2025 2:30 AM CDT

WHO: Tuberculosis Likely to Surge After Aid Cuts

US would likely feel the effects, too, expert warns

(Newser) - The latest dire warning in the wake of the Trump administration's massive aid cuts: Tuberculosis could surge around the globe. "Without immediate action, hard-won progress in the fight against TB is at risk," the director of the WHO's Global Program on TB and Lung Health said...

Social Security Staffers Barred From Reading News at Work

Meanwhile, acting chief acknowledges DOGE will likely make 'mistakes' as it makes cuts

(Newser) - Uncertainty surrounding the Social Security Administration continues, the latest entry coming via the Washington Post . The newspaper reports that acting chief Leland Dudek met with top staff and attorneys representing the elderly and disabled this week and acknowledged that Elon Musk's DOGE team is likely to make "mistakes"...

Trump Administration Looking to Sell 321 Federal Buildings

Some iconic ones were originally included on the list, though many were later removed

(Newser) - The Trump administration on Tuesday published a list of 443 federal properties it says it could close or sell, including the FBI headquarters and the main Department of Justice building, after deeming them "not core to government operations." The list published by the General Services Administration includes some...

DOGE Deletes More Errant Claims From Site

Elon Musk's group updates 'wall of receipts' to drop $4B in claims

(Newser) - DOGE's "wall of receipts" continues to have problems. The Department of Government Efficiency is using the site to list all of the government contracts it has scrapped and to tally up the resulting savings. But from the start, the DOGE list has been plagued by inaccuracies , including the...

Ex-Head of SSA Sees Imminent Social Security 'Collapse'

Martin O'Malley advises to 'start saving now,' predicts some checks may stop in next 30-90 days

(Newser) - The Social Security Administration hasn't missed sending out benefits checks in the more than 80 years that it's been doing so, but that may be about to change amid recent moves by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to slash spending at government agencies, according to a...

Mark Cuban Has Advice for Workers Fired by DOGE

Billionaire suggests tech staffers become consultants 'to fix the mess' now being created

(Newser) - Billionaire Mark Cuban has some advice for government workers laid off by fellow billionaire Elon Musk. "Group together to start a consulting company," he wrote on Bluesky . "It's just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create." As...

21 Tech Staffers Resign From DOGE Office

As Musk issues another ultimatum to federal employees

(Newser) - More than 20 civilian employees resigned in protest of the Department of Government Efficiency on Tuesday—the twist being that they technically worked for DOGE itself. The 21 staffers shared a resignation letter with the AP in which they said they would no longer use their tech skills to "...

One-Third of Canceled US Contracts Won't Yield Savings

DOGE's 'wall of receipts' may be a little misleading

(Newser) - News accounts continue to challenge Elon Musk's claims of major savings thanks to the Department of Government Efficiency he runs. On Monday, DOGE published an updated "wall of receipts" list of about 2,300 contracts that have been terminated across the federal government. The problem? The AP reports...

Ramaswamy Avoids DOGE in Launch of Ohio Run

Tech entrepreneur is running for governor

(Newser) - Vivek Ramaswamy has formally launched his bid to become the next governor of Ohio, reports CNN . And the Cincinnati native quickly earned two big endorsements in the 2026 race—that of President Trump and Elon Musk, reports the Hill .
  • Trump: "I know him well, competed against him, and he
...

Atop El Capitan, a 'Signal of Dire Distress'

Frustrated staffers at Yosemite hang upside-down American flag to protest Trump workforce cuts

(Newser) - An upside-down American flag is meant as "a signal of dire distress" —and that's exactly what visitors found at California's Yosemite National Park over the weekend. It seems staffers upset about the Trump administration taking a hatchet to the federal workforce draped a giant flag from...

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