Donald Trump’s administration promised that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would save America trillions by slashing federal contracts, eliminating “waste,” and shrinking the federal workforce. In reality, we got hack squads of political enforcers who rummaged through government systems, torched veteran-owned business contracts, fired thousands of veterans from federal service, and dismantled Department of Veteran Affairs programs designed to protect both veterans and taxpayers. So it’s fitting, if tragic, that DOGE has itself been dissolved eight months before its chartered end.
Named after Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, DOGE was never about efficiency. It was the shotgun marriage of Project 2025 and “We need something for Elon to do.” America’s veterans paid the heaviest price for this Frankenstein’s monster, which spent months clumsily strip-mining the federal government in order to make the rich richer.
Three stories illustrate how DOGE damaged our veterans most of all. First, the early warning signs: firing veteran federal employees en masse, pushing GI Bill mortgages toward default, and threatening to further destroy the VA workforce. Then came the VA budget fight, in which the administration requested a record $435 billion while simultaneously planning to eliminate thousands of positions — including 2,000 staff from the Veterans Benefits Administration, the people who process disability claims and help veterans navigate the system. Then came the mass exodus of doctors, nurses and other professionals at VA. The math never added up.
In fact, it’s estimated that DOGE’s “savings” were exaggerated by more than 95 percent. Of the more than $50 billion DOGE claimed to have saved, only $1.4 billion could be verified — and not a single dollar went back to the Treasury to reduce the deficit. At the same time, Trump was working with Republicans on his so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which is expected to increase the federal deficit by $4 trillion. Not a cent of that money will be seen in any tangible way by most Americans. It’s the largest investment in nothing this nation has ever seen.
Veterans across the federal government — who make up roughly one-third of the civilian workforce — were disproportionately targeted by DOGE. These weren’t just “government employees.” These were disabled veterans using federal employment as a lifeline; parents relying on a stable VA, Defense Department, State Department, and other institutions to support their families; and retirees from Iraq and Afghanistan who depend on VA health care while rebuilding their civilian lives. DOGE tore through these jobs while Elon joked on social media and quoted Office Space.
My hat goes off to Elon and Trump. When all is said and done, this may be the greatest scam ever pulled on the American taxpayers. They had people cheering this absolute massacre of our veteran workforce and veteran benefit programs, while actually paying extra to hurt veterans and watch their own government become dysfunctional. Bravo, gentlemen.
The damage was particularly bad at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trump gloated earlier this month, on Veterans Day, that his administration fired “thousands” of the “sick people” and “thieves” who he claimed were not properly taking care of our veterans. The administration initially planned to lay off 80,000 VA workers, before scaling the number back to 30,000. Hundreds of physicians and nearly 2,000 nurses have been let go since Trump took office, with 82 percent of facilities reporting critical clinical shortages. Instead of stabilizing the federal workforce, the administration pushed a hiring freeze and a “one-in, four-out” formula that guarantees the system will fail by design. Now, the VA is headed toward privatization by attrition — and DOGE is the propaganda arm that made it possible.
As the evidence piles up, one truth becomes undeniable: DOGE didn’t just fail to save money. It cost the government more than it saved, destabilized federal agencies, and inflicted long-term harm on those who served. Veterans will face the fallout for decades — in mortgage defaults, lost jobs, broken benefits claims, and a health care system stretched beyond recognition as the Trump economy founders, failing to provide jobs for all those veterans cast aside from federal service, and the many more who will hit the ground after active duty and find no federal jobs to come home to.
The only question left is what comes next? The only way to ensure something like DOGE never happens again is to hold those who illegally entered government buildings and systems under the guise of “cost saving” accountable. They all should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. As Trump enters his lame duck years and Democrats are poised to retake control of the government, it is essential that we do not forget the crimes committed against this nation’s heroes.
