Americans across the country shared mixed reviews of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Elon Musk, in interviews with Fox News Digital conducted last month.
DOGE was created in an effort to slash government waste and provide additional transparency in government spending to the American people. Fox News Digital conducted interviews in Knoxville, Tenn., Washington D.C., Detroit, Mich., and Houston, Texas, where citizens provided reactions and graded its ongoing efforts.
The progress report from Americans on the DOGE efforts ranged from A to F.
Micah in D.C. gave DOGE an “F,” while Matt in Tennessee gave it a more positive rating of a “B”. Kyle, also in Tennessee, gave the department a “D.”
Darryl in Houston said he is “encouraged” by the efforts by Elon Musk and DOGE. On the contrary, Ruben in Detroit said he feels “definitely discouraged.”
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Art in the nation’s capital did not spare any feelings for DOGE.
“Very, very poor. I think that they’re trying to do their job with a sledgehammer,” he said.
Micah elaborated on his F rating, saying, “They have come in, and they have wholesale damaged our nation’s system of government.”
Candice in Detroit expressed optimism about DOGE.
“I think it’s fantastic. There’s a lot of corruption in the way some of our money is spent in the government, and it’s been going on for decades,” she said. “Even Obama started in 2011 looking into government waste and I think they ended up getting like a list of things but no one ever did anything about it.”
According to the Obama White House archives, on June 13, 2011, former President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order to establish the “Campaign to Cut Government Waste.” This included two initiatives, “New Oversight and Accountability Board,” and “Regular Cabinet Meetings to Report Progress to the Vice President.”
In a recently resurfaced video from 2011, then-President Obama called on the federal government to cut wasteful government spending and programs, even the ones that “a lot of people care about.”
“Everyone knows that getting rid of the deficit will require some tough decisions, and that includes cutting back on billions of dollars in programs that a lot of people care about,” the former president said in the nearly 14-year-old clip.
Elon Musk’s Tesla showroom locations have faced repeated protests over his role in DOGE. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Richard in Houston described DOGE as “the worst thing to ever happen to our country.”
Anthony in Houston said about the efforts that he believes “maybe the intent is good,” but said the way they are going about it leaves something to be desired.
Jessica in Detroit said, “I think it’s disgusting, it’s inhumane.”
Kyle in Tennessee expressed thoughts that DOGE is likely cutting a lot of “unnecessary” things in the U.S. government.
“Trump is getting people laid off of work. He got Elon Musk up in there, I don’t believe Elon knows what he doing,” said Dalrimple in Detroit.
DOGE SLASHES NEARLY $1M FOR ALPACA FARMING IN PERU, OTHER QUESTIONABLE GRANTS IN LATEST WASTEFUL SPENDING CUT
As of March 27, DOGE claims on its site it has saved Americans $130 billion, or $807.45 per taxpayer.
President Donald Trump tasked the organization with optimizing the federal government, streamlining operations and slashing spending and gave the agency 18 months to do it.
The department has canceled numerous diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at federal agencies, consulting contracts, leases for underused federal buildings and duplicate agencies and programs.
Most think the national debt is a crisis or major problem, and nearly 6 in 10 feel a great deal or almost all of government spending is ‘wasteful and inefficient,’ according to a new Fox News national survey.
Yet a slim 51% majority opposes substantially shrinking the number of government employees, some 56% disapprove of the job the Trump administration is doing identifying and reducing wasteful spending, and another 65% worry that not enough thought and planning has gone into the cuts.
A sizable minority of Republicans (39%) share the concern of large numbers of Democrats (88%) and Independents (71%) about how the reductions are being implemented.
Forty percent approve of the job Elon Musk is doing working with DOGE, while 58% disapprove. Fully 93% of Democrats disapprove, along with 70% of Independents and 20% of Republicans.
U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced on Monday that her department will return over $1 billion in unused COVID-era funding back to the taxpayer amid the Trump administration’s push for the DOGE to slash waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.
In a press release, the Labor Department said $1.4 billion of unspent COVID funding will be “returned to taxpayers through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s General Fund” and added that “action” is “being taken to recover the remaining $2.9 billion.”
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Elizabeth Heckman reported from Texas, Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi reported from Tennessee, Gabriel Hays reported from Washington, D.C., and Joshua Q. Nelson reported from Michigan.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller, Gabriel Hays, and Dana Blanton contributed to this report.
