In the narrative offered by Musk, Trump, and their allies, DOGE is the Department Of Goverment Efficiency: a group of tech experts running an audit of federal government bodies to bring new transparency and stop extensive waste, fraud and abuse. The links on this page explain that story from the outside, tracing DOGE from backstory to pushback and documenting its role as propaganda cover for other goals.
Backstory: the DOGE name and background
Up front, you should be aware: DOGE is a backronymn; an acronymn created to match the classic shiba inu "doge" meme, and the archetypal "memecoin" cryptocurrency (named after the meme itself). These two things make an appearance later in one of the more tangled corners of the story, but we should begin by questioning the meaning of naming an attempted government overhaul after an internet joke.
In 2021, Elon Musk jumped publicly into cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin. This rapidly developed into a range of common cryptocurrency-related misbehaviors from him and his companies.
Tesla sells 10% of its bitcoin at the increased price, right before rolling back the Tesla adoption (because $150 in, an electric car company "suddenly found out about" the likely impact of Bitcoin on the electric grid's coal use.)
Musk and his companies pump Dogecoin, and are sued in the resulting fallout. A judge rules that their actions individually are only the legal kinds of misbehaviors, and that it is "impossible to understand" the more complex allegations (which rely on crypto-specific semi-technical knowledge)
Not an audit
https://www.wired.com/story/federal-auditors-doge-elon-musk/
playing games with responsibility:
https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-doge-office-administrator
https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-the-doge-administrator-elon-musk-white-house-trump-2025-2
not saving money
https://newrepublic.com/post/193093/irs-revenue-elon-musk-doge-cuts
https://en.as.com/latest_news/doge-cuts-could-cost-the-irs-500bn-heres-what-it-means-for-tax-season-n/