A year later, experts say full effect of DOGE cuts may never be known
USA TODAY
The full effects of DOGE cuts to tens of thousands of federal contracts and agreements may never be fully known, experts say, and controversy lingers.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk appeared in a White House news conference on Feb. 11, 2025, defending plans to cut "waste" in the federal government with the Department of Government Efficiency.
For months last year, his assembled squad and their exploits inside federal agencies dominated headlines. Musk even posed for cameras with a chainsaw, flaunting the department’s cost-cutting at President Donald Trump's request.
The fanfare over DOGE has faded, but hundreds of legal actions are in process over many of the nearly 30,000 grants and contracts that were terminated. USA TODAY analyzed the cuts reported during the new administration’s first 9.5 months to examine the extent of the reported cost-cutting.
Here’s what we found, based on the most recent accounting provided by DOGE's website, last updated on Oct. 4:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the contract reviews are returning accountability to a federal government that “has long needed it.”
McKenna Wendel's body was found on Thursday, March 19, in Brookings, South Dakota, roughly an hour north of the home she shared with her grandparents in Sioux Falls.
Under Kari Lake, the storied VOA news agency has turned into a Trump administration mouthpiece, current and former employees allege in the lawsuit.
President Trump's push for ICE officers to remove masks at airports reignites debate over if and when the federal agents should wear them.
Severe flooding from the Kona Low forced evacuations and devastated communities in Hawaii. Now cleanup efforts are underway as damage is assessed.
The Independence Police Department recovered five Barbie dolls that contained fentanyl from discount store Cargo Largo on March 21.
The Houston resident said the meteorite broke through the roof and ceiling before landing in a bedroom in her home, according to reports.
An Air Canada Express aircraft carrying 72 passengers and four crew collided with a Port Authority firetruck at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday, March 22.
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Scenes from LaGuardia show damage and emergency response following the fatal Air Canada crash at the airport on Sunday night.
The U.S. power grid is under strain. Aging infrastructure, rising demand and extreme weather are testing reliability.
The scorching heat wave, which began last week, has brought dangerous temperatures to parts of California, Arizona, and other Southwestern states.
Investigators believe the building was at over capacity before the floor collapsed, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Catastrophic flooding is hitting Hawaii as two back-to-back storms pummeled the islands with rain and damaging winds, the worst flooding in 20 years.