June 10 (UPI) -- Elon Musk's work in the government has ended after five months and former White House staff have serious doubts about the Department of Government Efficiency self-reported results.
To date, DOGE claims that it has saved the government about $180 billion by slashing the federal workforce, ending contracts, selling assets and cutting grant programs. However, its so-called "Wall of Receipts" is filled with questionable or inaccurate entries, according to Elaine Karmarck, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Karmarck led President Bill Clinton's Reinventing Government Initiative, a program that cut 426,000 civil servants from the federal payroll and cut federal and agency regulations.
There are three metrics Karmarck told UPI she uses to measure how effective DOGE is. Some of those metrics will not be available until the next administration takes office on Jan. 20, 2029.
The first metric is whether there are fewer people working in the federal government at the end of President Donald Trump's term. There are about 2.2 million federal employees, a number that -- despite narratives claiming the government continues to grow -- has been consistent for decades.
