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DOGE vowed to make government more ‘efficient’ — but it’s doing the opposite | Washington Post Story
Somewhere in the world last month, a State Department employee began the routine process of hiring a vendor for an upcoming embassy event — but quickly ran into a problem.The vendor was refusing to sign paperwork certifying that it did not promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or “DEI,” a new requirement under President Donald Trump’s executive order eradicating DEI from the government. The State employee — who spoke on the condition that neither he nor the location of his embassy be named, for fear of retaliation — sighed.Then he got busy: The work-around, he knew, would take time. First, he got his ambassador’s signed approval to hire the vendor anyway. Next, he filled out an Office 365 form justifying the expense in 250 words before selecting which “pillar” of necessary spending it fell under, choosing from options including “Safer, Stronger, More Prosperous.” After submitting that to higher-ups and getting their sign-off, he filled out yet another form — this one destined for political appointees back in Washington.A week later, the vendor was secured. Under any previous administration, it would have taken one day, the employee said.Similar layers of new red tape are plaguing federal staffers throughout the government under the second Trump administration, stymieing work and delaying simple transactions, according to interviews with more than three dozen federal workers across 19 agencies and records obtained by The Washington Post. Many of the new hurdles, federal workers said, stem from changes imposed by the U.S. DOGE Service, Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team, which burst into government promising to eradicate waste, fraud and abuse and trim staff and spending.The team’s overarching goal was in its name: DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, although it is not part of the Cabinet. But as Musk departed government on Friday, many federal workers said DOGE has in many ways had the opposite effect.DOGE’s intense scrutiny of federal spending is forcing employees to spend hours justifying even the most basic purchases. New rules mandating review and approval by political appointees are leaving thousands of contracts and projects on ice for months. Large-scale firings spearheaded by DOGE have cut support offices — especially IT shops — that assisted federal workers with issues ranging from glitching computers to broken desk chairs. And the piecemeal reassignment of staff is causing significant lags in work in some agencies, notably Social Security, as inexperienced workers adjust to new roles.Meanwhile, most everyone, across every agency, is dealing with fallout from new policies or executive orders — even as colleagues continue to resign or retire, increasing the workload for those who remain.“Leadership is overcome with meetings and questions from people on how this will all work. The Human Resource teams have conflicting information, and confusion reigns,” said one Defense Department employee who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. Every day, he said, it feels like “each person still standing is battling a dozen fires.”Many presidents try to reshape the sprawling federal bureaucracy to achieve their specific policy goals, said George Krause, a University of Georgia professor who studies public administration. Such efforts span Democratic and Republican administrations back to Richard M. Nixon, whose political appointees were known for clashing with career federal executives, Krause said.But the DOGE-driven efforts appear to be backfiring in ways that other initiatives did not.“What Musk showed is that you cannot do this without a plan, and if you do it without a plan that respects some of the functions of government that everybody wants, then what’s going to happen is you’ll end up making the government less efficient, and not more efficient,” said Elaine Kamarck, director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution and a former Clinton administration official.White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement that, through DOGE, “President Trump is curbing government waste and reforming a system that has long burdened American taxpayers.” He added: “Anyone resistant to these critical reforms has had ample opportunity to step aside, but the work of DOGE will press forward unobstructed.”The State Department on Saturday shared an emailed statement from a “senior official” it declined to name: “The State Department will never apologize for putting processes in place to ensure taxpayer dollars are used correctly. It’s what the American people expect and deserve.” But on Friday, almost exactly 24 hours after a Post reporter asked about the requirement that international vendors certify they do not promote DEI, State had issued guidance rescinding that mandate for staff overseas, according to a directive obtained by The Post.FULL STORY AT GIFT LINK: https://wapo.st/3HhnPStThe Washington Post wants to hear from people affected by U.S. DOGE Service activities at federal agencies. You can contact me by email or Signal encrypted message. I will honor anonymity requests and use best secure sourcing practices. Hannah Natanson: [hannah.natanson@washpost.com](mailto:jeff.stein@washpost.com) or (202) 580-5477 on Signal.
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