Former DOGE engineer on his experience working for the cost-cutting unit

[Dulcinea]

(NPR) A former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency says that he found that the federal waste, fraud and abuse that his agency was supposed to uncover were "relatively nonexistent" during his short time embedded within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"I personally was pretty surprised, actually, at how efficient the government was," Sahil Lavingia told NPR's Juana Summers.

Lavingia was a successful software developer and the founder of Gumroad, a platform for online sales, when he joined DOGE in March. Lavingia said he had previously sought to work for the U.S. Digital Service, the technology unit that was renamed and restructured by the Trump administration. He told NPR that he just wanted to make government websites easier for citizens to use and didn't really care which presidential administration he was working for, despite protests from his friends and family.

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/02/nx-s1-5417994/former-doge-engineer-shares-his-experience-working-for-the-cost-cutting-unit

[Irish_Dem]

1. The waste fraud, abuse claims were an excuse to destroy the US federal workforce.

And for Musk and Trump to gain access to huge amounts of data and federal monies.

[Dave Bowman]

5. So true, they have been given the keys to snoop and steal, that's so reassuring.

[Irish_Dem]

6. The Putin/Trump Crime Syndicate has access to everything.

Data, money, secrets, etc.

[Dave Bowman]

8. Imagine this happening just a few years ago, some heads would have rolled. Now it's another story.

This reminds me how Russia was being pillaged by oligarchs after the crumbling of the USSR. Unbelievable that it's happening in the US as we speak.

[Irish_Dem]

10. Yes it is treason of the highest magnitude.

Yes when a fascist dictator takes over, the country is taken down to the studs.
All resources stolen.

This is why Putin is the richest man in the world.
He has taken all of Russia's money and resources.
People who live outside of Moscow don't have indoor plumbing.

When Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine they were stealing washer, dryers, dishwashers.
When they got back home they didn't realize you needed indoor water hook ups to operate them.

[70sEraVet]

2. Straight from the belly of the beast.

The 'waste, fraud and abuse' line was just a cover for Musk's team to decimate any government entity that he felt was a danger to himself or to his businesses, as well as to give him an opportunity to steal any info that might prove valuable to him.
When the U.S. has a sane leadership once again, there will be investigations and consequences.

[mopinko]

3. anyone else remember that st ronnie ran on the same platform?

i dont remember him finding any, either.

[KPN]

15. Oh he did. Well, to be accurate, he said he did. I was there. It's called federal pay grades. He reduced

them under the moniker of "grade bulge reduction" to -- snicker, snicker -- put federal pay levels in line with the private sector. (The Graves Commission.)

He also postponed 4 consecutive fed employee annual COLAs by 3 months each, equaling in effect the elimination of one year's COLA completely -- during the period that encompassed some of the highest annual inflation rates in my lifetime. Oh, and routinely froze federal hiring -- thereby shrinking the overall workforce and effectively forcing federal employees to do more with and for less.

This is when I actually started paying much greater attention specifically to how Democrats responded to the Republican economic agenda, and first found myself beginning to feel disappointed as well as somewhat disillusioned by the results. As a party, we've needed to do better ever since not just for the federal workforce but working Americans overall.

[BOSSHOG]

4. The Fraud, Waste and Abuse is coming from the House

The White House.

[tanyev]

9. Hey! Parades to boost the ego of a demented narcissist don't come cheap, you know.

[BOSSHOG]

11. A Military Parade for a coward

“Throne” by himself, for himself with total disregard for every person in military uniform.

Imagine if he waited until decent citizens organized a parade for him. How long?

[Dave Bowman]

7. Mr Lavingia is brave to blow the whistle, I hope that he stays safe from the Taco Mafia.

[Javaman]

12. Basically this poor shnook, wasn't let in on the scam

There was no mission for efficiency or fraud, it was all about gutting the very agencies that were currently investigating the empty husk and his crooked businesses.

Everything after that, tha stealing of many and data was an added bonus.

And I might add, it’s still going on. Just because the spoiled brat is “gone”, his dogebad teen titans are still very much reeking havoc upon our government

[Ol Janx Spirit]

13. Just like Republican's claims of election fraud...

...when they had already made it hard enough to vote that there wasn't going to be much if any to find in the first place. This is what they do....

I'm glad to see someone at least telling it like it really is.

[JHB]

14. 50 years of conditioning via propaganda does wonders for perception, doesn't it?

Or, more accurately, misperception.

[Crowman2009]

16. Everyone who worked for DOGE should be in prison once 2029 rolls around.