According to a tool from the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, which tracks government money, indicated that federal spending didn’t slow down contrary to the big promises made. As per the findings highlighted by the Brookings Institution, outlays had risen from $7.135 to 7.558 trillion as of December 19. This constitutes for a nearly 6% increase.
In turn, Cato Institute’s analysis of the report noted, “DOGE had no noticeable effect on the trajectory of spending. But it did help engineer the largest peacetime workforce reduction on record.” The reported data further showed that all this increase in spending was mapped out even when the federal employment was slashed by 271,000, accounting for a 9% slump since January 2025.
In terms of the soft power lost by disbanding USAID I’m sure it’s actually a much, much higher figure over the long term.
It was about two things: dismantling offices that were investigating Musk (while putting fear of retribution in others planning to do the same), and weakening the US govt, because a weaker and less organized govt is easier to control. Then there’s the suspected download of all the data of every US citizen from the Social Security database - which further assists Musk and plutocrats in gathering personal details for any investigators that cross them.
It was all for personal gain, and the Republican morons who cheered it on will never understand it.