Elon Musk Admits DOGE Was a Failure!

In the world of finance, a write off is a polite way to describe a massive investment that incinerated capital with nothing left to show for it but a tax deduction and a lesson learned. In Washington DC, however, it appears that they call it the Department of Government Efficiency. Elon Musk finally offered a candid post-mortem on his brief but chaotic tenure as the spiritual leader of the department. You may recall that he wasn't the legal head as former leadership would have required a Senate confirmed appointment.

He spilled the beans earlier this week on a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, a name that might ring a bell if you followed the soap opera of Washington staffing. Katie Miller is the wife of Steven Miller, Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff. She's also a former Trump administration official who served as the spokesperson for Doge between January and May of this year. She left that role to work directly for Musk in the private sector before launching her podcast.

The interview was a friendly affair, studiously avoiding the awkward elephant in the room. A viral incident last June where a fake screenshot circulated online showing Elon Musk bragging that he had stolen Katie Miller from her husband. Musk's truth seeeking AI assistant, Grock, analyzed the screenshot and declared it was likely genuine because the metrics and content align with Musk's behavior. Musk had to publicly correct his own invention, which, as it turns out, was a perfect metaphor for the entire Doge project, an automated confirmation of a reality that didn't exist.

For a project that ended with a whimper, the bang at the beginning was truly deafening. During a televised rally at Madison Square Garden last year, Howard Lutnik invited Musk on stage to ask him a simple question. All right. >> But we set up Doge.

>> Yes. >> How much do you think we can rip out of this wasted $6.5 trillion Harris Biden budget? >> Well, I I think we we could do at least two trillion. >> Yeah.

>> Two trillion. >> It was a staggering figure, nearly a third of all federal spending. It was also, according to Lutnik himself, completely offscript. Lutnik later admitted to the Financial Times that the deal was that he was going to say he would cut $1 trillion, adding somewhat helplessly, "What was I supposed to ...