Musk, DOGE Could Spend $135B to Save $150B: Analysts

Elon Musk originally said the Department of Government Efficiency could save taxpayers $2 trillion. He later downgraded that to $1 trillion. His most recent estimate is down even further, to $150 billion. But according to the experts on federal workers who spoke to the New York Times, the cost of DOGE's chaotic, error-laden cuts to the federal government could ultimately add up to $135 billion this fiscal year alone. The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that studies the federal work force, came up with that number by considering the cost of firings, re-hirings, paid leave, and lost productivity that can be attributed to the DOGE cuts.

Not included in that estimate? The cost of DOGE defending its decisions in court. "They can do all the things they are currently doing, but they can't do them the way they're doing them. They can either start over and do it right, or they can be in court for forever," says Jeri Buchholz, who spent more than 30 years in public service handling hiring and firing at seven federal agencies. The full Times article looks at more specific numbers, including the 25% of federal workers who were re-hired after initially being let go. For more on a related topic, Bloomberg recently took a look at the "unprecedented upheaval" caused by DOGE to the usually stable economy of Washington, DC. (More Elon Musk stories.)