Rachel Maddow

Elon Musk, the president's top campaign donor, said that at Doge he would cut a trillion dollars out of the government's budget, then he said he would cut two trillion out of the government's budget. Then, as of last week, he said at an all-for-the-cameras cabinet meeting that it would actually be about 92 percent less than that.

It would be about $150 billion by next fiscal year that he and Doge were going to cut. After that, the New York Times and other entities, other news organizations pointed out that Doge's accounting of that relatively tiny amount, that $150 billion, was itself riddled with errors. And there was no way that what they were claiming to have saved added up to anywhere near $150 billion.

It would be about $150 billion by next fiscal year that he and Doge were going to cut. After that, the New York Times and other entities, other news organizations pointed out that Doge's accounting of that relatively tiny amount, that $150 billion, was itself riddled with errors. And there was no way that what they were claiming to have saved added up to anywhere near $150 billion.

And then after that, they took down the government website that lists what the government is actually funding and cutting. And now they're being sued for taking that down. So the claims that Doge is all about cutting wasteful spending, cutting trillions of dollars out of government, those clearly aren't true. So what's Doge doing?

And then after that, they took down the government website that lists what the government is actually funding and cutting. And now they're being sued for taking that down. So the claims that Doge is all about cutting wasteful spending, cutting trillions of dollars out of government, those clearly aren't true. So what's Doge doing?

If it's not cutting trillions of dollars out of the government, and it's really not, then what exactly is this very opaque and mysterious part of the government up to? What is Doge up to? What is it for? Well, as always, it is most helpful to watch what they do and not what they say.

If it's not cutting trillions of dollars out of the government, and it's really not, then what exactly is this very opaque and mysterious part of the government up to? What is Doge up to? What is it for? Well, as always, it is most helpful to watch what they do and not what they say.

And from the actions that we can observe of what Doge is doing, there's nothing about what they're doing that looks like government efficiency, right? So I think we can sort of set aside the pretext. We can set aside their claims about what they're doing, at least what they're trying to do. What are they really doing? What can we see about their activity to show us what they're doing and why?

And from the actions that we can observe of what Doge is doing, there's nothing about what they're doing that looks like government efficiency, right? So I think we can sort of set aside the pretext. We can set aside their claims about what they're doing, at least what they're trying to do. What are they really doing? What can we see about their activity to show us what they're doing and why?

There are a few different sort of buckets that we can see in terms of what Doge is doing. And I would say the first bucket is them just breaking stuff, right? The Social Security Administration, broken. So they no longer answer the phone, their website doesn't work, their field offices are totally overrun and non-functional, breaking Social Security Agency.

There are a few different sort of buckets that we can see in terms of what Doge is doing. And I would say the first bucket is them just breaking stuff, right? The Social Security Administration, broken. So they no longer answer the phone, their website doesn't work, their field offices are totally overrun and non-functional, breaking Social Security Agency.

The IRS, they're doing the same, just breaking the agency. Today's April 15th, today's tax day. We'll see how well this tax season works out. Same with student loans. They shut down the education department and its handling of federal student loans. They moved student loans randomly to the Small Business Administration, which is not at all equipped to handle it.

The IRS, they're doing the same, just breaking the agency. Today's April 15th, today's tax day. We'll see how well this tax season works out. Same with student loans. They shut down the education department and its handling of federal student loans. They moved student loans randomly to the Small Business Administration, which is not at all equipped to handle it.

Now nobody's answering the phones or the email, and the websites don't work on student loans. Nobody knows what's happening to their student loans. So that's one sort of category of what we can see them doing. That's bucket one, right? They are breaking stuff. Bucket two, they are slashing stuff out of the government that they appear to not even understand.

Now nobody's answering the phones or the email, and the websites don't work on student loans. Nobody knows what's happening to their student loans. So that's one sort of category of what we can see them doing. That's bucket one, right? They are breaking stuff. Bucket two, they are slashing stuff out of the government that they appear to not even understand.

I didn't know that. We cut what? We cut what? I mean... You didn't cut that. Who cut it? Oh, was that Doge? Part of what Doge appears to be doing is cuts that nobody has asked for and nobody can defend. I mean, here's Kennedy at HHS saying, we cut adolescent diabetes research. That sounds terrible. That doesn't sound like something I do. I better look into that.

I didn't know that. We cut what? We cut what? I mean... You didn't cut that. Who cut it? Oh, was that Doge? Part of what Doge appears to be doing is cuts that nobody has asked for and nobody can defend. I mean, here's Kennedy at HHS saying, we cut adolescent diabetes research. That sounds terrible. That doesn't sound like something I do. I better look into that.

Yeah, my dude, that's supposedly something you did. I did? What? Better look into that. I mean, the same goes with the cuts to now famously, you know, Ebola response and prevention. Oops, we didn't mean to cut that. And the people who handle our nuclear weapons. Oops, didn't mean to cut that.

Yeah, my dude, that's supposedly something you did. I did? What? Better look into that. I mean, the same goes with the cuts to now famously, you know, Ebola response and prevention. Oops, we didn't mean to cut that. And the people who handle our nuclear weapons. Oops, didn't mean to cut that.

I mean, same goes presumably with the cuts to the firefighters cancer registry, which Donald Trump himself created. That just got cut. Did Donald Trump want to cut that? Who knows? These cuts, they just, I don't know, they sort of make themselves. So there's them breaking stuff. There's them cutting stuff that they don't even appear to know they are cutting.