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“This is another incredible discovery by the DOGE team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments. The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans’ stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told Fox.
Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee” began when President Trump signed an executive order creating DOGE on Inauguration Day. Tasked with slashing $2 trillion in wasteful spending, the department was handed one of the most ambitious missions in recent federal history.
But with rules capping Musk’s service at 130 days a year, his term is now winding down—officially ending May 30.
Still, Musk made sure to go out with a bang, revealing to Fox viewers the top five “insane” examples of reckless spending that his team uncovered.
1. U.S. Taxpayer Money Went to a Former Taliban Official
DOGE discovered that the U.S. Institute of Peace funneled $132,000 to Mohammad Qasem Halimi—a former Taliban official who was detained by U.S. forces at Bagram Air Base in 2002. Halimi later served in the Afghan government, including as Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs in 2020. Musk’s team forced the cancellation of the contract on March 31.
2. COVID Relief Funds Blew Up in Las Vegas
Billions in COVID relief dollars were supposed to help students and teachers—but DOGE found many districts used the funds for vacations and perks.
Granite School District in Utah spent $86,000 on hotel rooms at Caesars Palace for a so-called “educational conference,” while Santa Ana Unified School District in California blew nearly $400,000 renting out a Major League Baseball stadium. One district even bought an ice cream truck with taxpayer dollars.
3. Diversity Dollars Gone Wild
As Musk’s team dug deeper, they exposed hundreds of millions in waste under the guise of DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiatives. Contracts with little to no oversight were slashed as DOGE launched a full-scale review of bloated DEI budgets across multiple federal agencies.
4. A ‘Sesame Street’ for Iraq—At $20 Million
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who chairs the Senate’s DOGE Caucus, sounded the alarm after learning that $20 million in U.S. taxpayer money was handed to Sesame Workshop to build a “Sesame Street” spinoff in Iraq. Called Ahlan Simsim Iraq, the show aimed to promote “inclusion, mutual respect and understanding” across sectarian lines.
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“USAID authorized a whopping $20 million to create a ‘Sesame Street’ in Iraq,” Ernst revealed, slamming the spending as detached from American interests.
5. $162 Billion in “Improper Payments”
Perhaps the most alarming figure came not from DOGE itself, but from a March report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). That report found federal agencies made a staggering $162 billion in “improper payments” last year. The vast majority came from just five government programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Department of Agriculture.
DOGE’s audit helped confirm the scope of the rot—and according to Musk, it only scratches the surface.
With Musk stepping down and returning to the private sector, questions loom over whether his successors will have the spine to keep cutting deep. But for now, his last act may be his most memorable: putting a spotlight on the financial recklessness festering under Democrat-led state governments and exposing billions of taxpayer dollars lost to fraud, ideology, and incompetence.
