DOGE Hits The Ground Running

There’s a possibly quite significant story that came out yesterday evening, but first this from RT:

Trump’s DOGE claims $1 billion saved on cancelled DEI programs

A total of 104 contracts were ended across 30 federal bodies, the government efficiency watchdog has reported

The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by President Donald Trump and led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, has announced that it has managed to save over $1 billion thanks to the elimination of contracts related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

The agency posted the breakdown of federal government savings on Friday via its official X account. The published index lists off 30 federal bodies, stating that 104 contracts with a “ceiling value” of over $1.2 billion were eliminated as part of Trump’s move to scrap DEI initiatives. …

The question arises, What’s $1.2 billion when there are trillions at stake? Who knows where all those trillions have gone? Interestingly, the same question seems to have occurred to DOGE and the people whose brainchild DOGE was:

BREAKING: The Highest Ranking Career Official at the Treasury Just RESIGNED After Refusal To Give Trump Team Access To Payments System

[Yahoo] The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department is departing after a clash with allies of billionaire Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks.

David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for several decades, announced his retirement Friday in an email to colleagues obtained by The Washington Post. President Donald Trump named Lebryk as acting secretary upon taking office last week. Lebryk had a dispute with Musk’s surrogates over access to the payment system the U.S. government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year, the people said. The exact nature of the disagreement was not immediately clear, they said.

Officials affiliated with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” have been asking since after the election for access to the system, the people said – requests that were reiterated more recently, including after Trump’s inauguration.

A spokeswoman for DOGE declined to comment. Lebryk could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

When Scott Bessent was confirmed as treasury secretary on Monday, Lebryk ceased to be the acting agency head.

Typically only a small number of career officials control Treasury’s payment systems. Run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the sensitive systems control the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses and more nationwide. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people across the country rely on the systems, which are responsible for distributing Social Security and Medicare benefits, salaries for federal personnel, payments to government contractors and grant recipients and tax refunds, among tens of thousands of other functions.

The clash reflects an intensifying battle between Musk and the federal bureaucracy as the Trump administration nears the conclusion of its second week. Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate. (Musk was seen on Thursday visiting GSA, according to two other people familiar with his whereabouts, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. That visit was first reported by the New York Times.) His Department of Government Efficiency, originally conceived as a nongovernmental panel, has since replaced the U.S. Digital Service.

The executive order Trump signed creating DOGE also instructed all agencies to ensure it has “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” which would appear to include the Treasury payment systems.

This looks a bit like an audit of the entire federal government to find out where the money is and where it goes. DOGE is the instrument whereby Trump does an endrun around the entrenched permanent bureaucracy. I would expect a steady flow of revelations of unclassified but highly embarrassing—and possibly incriminating—information. This could lead to the new departmental IGs being instructed to open investigations based on what DOGE learns, rather than waiting for information generated from within the normal bureaucratic channels. Very cool concept.

How will the permanent government fight back?