Staff Reports
The Department of Government Efficiency, cheekily dubbed DOGE, has made headlines again with an astounding revelation straight out of a comedy sketch: a whopping $1.9 billion that had somehow slipped through the cracks of the Biden administration’s financial oversight has been recovered. This lost fortune, sourced from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, may as well be a modern-day treasure hunt, but instead of pirates, it was more like a government agency trying to embezzle its own budget.
In a post on X, DOGE shared the news that this $1.9 billion was originally earmarked for financial services but was, for reasons only known to the bureaucratic labyrinth, rendered unnecessary. One can’t help but wonder what other hidden treasures await discovery under this administration’s watch, or if they’re simply playing a nationwide game of “Hide and Seek” with taxpayer dollars.
DOGE says it found $1.9 billion in taxpayer money ‘misplaced’ by Biden administration’s HUD https://t.co/FNoy2T4u5H pic.twitter.com/gT3XaIOgba
— New York Post (@nypost) February 15, 2025
Scott Turner, Secretary of HUD, has made it his mission to fix what his predecessor broke, claiming this newfound money will be used wisely and transparently for tribal, rural, and urban communities. Given the recent track record, one could argue that the only transparency currently being seen is the kind of transparency one gets in a low-budget horror film right before the “whodunit” is revealed. So much for diligent spending, eh?
Just days before the DOGE announcement, Turner and his team reportedly discovered an additional $260 million in savings. It begs the question: what was going on before Turner took the reins? Were government employees simply asleep at the wheel, or did they decide that following the money trail was too much work compared to playing solitaire at their desks? Meanwhile, Lee Zeldin, the EPA head honcho, has jumped on the accountability bandwagon by pulling a $50 million grant tied to some dubious climate justice group that somehow believes climate issues are best remedied by advocating for a Free Palestine. Only in the world of wasteful government spending could these absurdities flourish.
Adding to the circus, Zeldin revealed that the Biden administration doled out $160 million to a Canadian electric bus manufacturer, who now, it seems, has gone belly up. Apparently, not only did Uncle Sam throw cash at the problem without a payment plan, but he also forgot to check whether the “manufacturer” was capable of making these buses. Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned here about using taxpayer funds wisely — but who are we kidding? Lessons are as scarce as logical budget management in the current administration.
What’s really amusing about all of this is how DOGE, only a month old, is already flexing its muscles and has the authority to belly flop into the federal employment pool, thanks to an executive order from Donald Trump. Around 2 million federal employees now have the option to buyouts — a clear sign that the government is finally functioning like a business that holds its employees accountable, albeit with all the grace of a hippo on a high wire. So, while the Biden administration sleeps at the wheel, it appears that DOGE is here to rake in the lost treasure and perhaps throw a lifeline to fiscal sanity in the chaotic waters of government spending.
