DOGE you just hate it when someone has made up their mind on something you’re convinced they’re wrong about?
Humans have always been divided by perspective. It’s tempting to say today more than ever. But history was harsh. Read Voltaire’s 18th century book The Calas Affair to see how horrifically humanity treated people who were merely a different religion. Or just browse Our World in Data. On a century-to-decades scale, almost every metric of human progress is better these days. Of course on a day-month-year scale, there can be periods of calm and of calamity.
What’s happened with Elon’s DOGE since Trump’s second inauguration can be painted many ways. And is. The algorithm seems fueled by strong opinions. But what are the facts about the Department of Government Efficiency? The truth is in data, sources of which this posts aims to collect.
Anchor yourself on 3 trillion dollars.
This is the amount the USA intends to spend in 2025. USASpending.gov, the “official open data source of federal spending information,” visualizes government spend.
How will this money be spent? Why are there 500 billion dollars of unreported data? These are among many questions asked by DOGE, the meme turned agency birthed by humanity’s – depending on who you ask – villain or hero, Elon Musk. According to it’s founding X post, it aims “to ensure your tax dollars will be spent wisely!”
Auditing a $3 trillion mega economy sounds like the embodiment of easier said than done. A government is wise to periodically audit itself. And there is an agency for that, the GAO, Government Accountability Office, which on Feb 5th released a government 2025 Fiscal Health Report. The report finds that “the federal government is on an unsustainable fiscal path that poses serious economic, security, and social challenges.” Recommending “Congress and the administration will need to make difficult budgetary and policy decisions to address the key drivers of federal debt and change the government’s fiscal trajectory.”
DOGE dove in, not just auditing but cancelling entire agencies overnight. Since Trump’s inauguration on Jan 20th, DOGE has cut nearly a billion dollars a day from the federal budget. Debate rages on whether this is legal. So far it is. What has been done so far? While there is not yet a DOGE API, there is DOGE Livetracker, a page created when founders Connor Power and Cam Cross “realized there was no single source of data for anyone to rely on.” Connor said that the team’s “only plan has been to create as much transparency possible.” Being 2025, the transparency is enabled by official DOGE posts on X.
There is scant formal DOGE data. The official government website doge.gov is a single page that reads “DOGE: The people voted for major reform.”
Federal Government Data Sources
The government dearly needs an easier way to explore its financial data. Perhaps DOGE is the spearhead that the world’s interaction designers need to turn API streams into something a standard American can use to understand the myriad paths tax dollars can take.
Some of the better resources include The Hamilton Project, which offers an interactive tool graphing daily and weekly processed outlays (expenditures) from the government. Other data sources include the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and FRED, the Federal Reserve’s Data Portal, that includes numerous categories of data such as government debt and state-by-state activity. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) typically shares the President’s budget proposal. Their website redirects to whitehouse.gov. Finally there is USASpending.gov, “the official open data source of federal spending.” Are you getting a vibe of TMI? So am I.
If all of this makes you mad, try your hand at balancing the budget.
At the end of the day, whether you’re cheering DOGE, furious of its power, or quietly watching what unfolds, we’re all on the same team. Team Human.
Team Humanity is dedicated to making the world better. Today and for generations to come. Even in the face of tough, cutthroat decisions, we must lead with compassion. As new data emerges, we owe it to ourselves to approach it with open minds.
As Seneca wisely said, we read not merely to refute but to weigh and consider. DOGE’s rise from meme to machine raises as many questions as it answers. But in the end, beyond politics and algorithms, it’s about we the people. If the people want their virtues reflected in government, they must follow the data and champion causes they care about.
