What's Up Doge?

It’s icy frozen in Austin today, hot chocolate weather, so I pulled out my DOGE mug, made a run for the icy snow for this headliner pic, and then got writing… enjoy the update!

Picking up right after my last update (through Jan 11), things have been a bit quieter on the public side, really no new contract batch drops from @DOGE‘s X account since Jan 10. The work keeps churning behind the scenes, because (I think) of Nick Shirley’s groundbreaking work.

Mid-January Highlight: President Trump Praises Elon Musk & DOGE

One of the biggest moments this period came straight from the top. On January 15, President Trump gave a strong, public nod to Elon Musk’s leadership in DOGE, calling him “one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.” He praised how Elon “stepped forward to put his very great talents into the service of our nation,” bringing “colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington.” Trump spotlighted the “geniuses with an engineering mindset” now in place, advanced systems catching fraud and waste, and major modernization of outdated processes. He said the numbers are already “substantial” and set to grow big-time as more reforms kick in.

This is huge, I think it’s awesome to see the President call it out so clearly. Respect!

Department of Defense Efficiency Push (Jan 16+)

The DoD issued a department-wide directive to review all 8(a) and small business awards, not just sole-source ones, for better oversight and to root out any waste or fraud in contracting.

Ongoing Fraud Prevention & Legal Battles

The fight against fraud hasn’t slowed. The “Defend the Spend” approach (requiring receipts/justifications before payments, especially for things like childcare funds) continues to stir things up, and of course some states sued over it, one judge ordered a pause, and the team is appealing and pushing forward to stop loopholes.

DOGE has also been targeted with court filings around Social Security data access (claims of inaccuracies or unauthorized sharing), with the DOJ acknowledging issues in one case. Defenders see it as aggressive fraud-hunting that occasionally hits bumps in execution. These are part of the bigger effort to clean up records and protect taxpayer dollars, and progress isn’t always smooth, but it’s happening.

Big-Picture Savings & Tracker Status

doge.gov/savings (last refreshed Jan 1, 2026) still lists 13,440+ wasteful contracts terminated, with ~$61B in identified savings from those actions alone

• Broader estimates (including grants, leases, workforce streamlining, fraud reductions, etc.) continue to hover around $215 billion total— that’s roughly $1,335 per U.S. taxpayer in avoided waste, per White House framing.
• No new public contract batches since the Jan 10 post ($1.5B ceiling value cut, $269M savings, including that bizarre DEI “Gender and Social Inclusion Director” contract), but agency-level work on software audits, lease cancellations, and grant scrubs do keep adding up.

The @DOGE X account has been silent lately (maybe recharging after the holidays?), but the reforms are embedded now, and agencies are owning the efficiency push.

Shoutout to Citizen Journalism

Huge props still to folks like @nickshirleyy whose work exposing potential fraud (especially in daycare and autism clinic fraud) pushed real action and policy changes. I met Nick in Austin in January 2025. He was calling attention to Austin’s problem of drawing homeless to our city at the time.

What is DOGE, again?

The Department of Government Efficiency is laser-focused on slashing federal waste, modernizing tech, rooting out fraud, and making government work better for the people who pay for it.

Stay warm out there (hot chocolate on repeat here), and let me know if you want any tweaks in my weekly and bi-weekly updates. Maybe more details on Elon Musk? Add more on a section, shorten anything, or hunt for visuals? We can refine this together. Let me know.

Hugs from frozen Austin! ❄️☕