Very basic question: DOGE is made up a few dozen people most of whom aren't drawing salaries. What could $40 million be going toward? Could it be data storage outside government servers? https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/doge-costs-40-million-elon-musk
Comments
Overhead (offices, cell phones, laptops)
Salaries of the career staff who are "detailed" to assist (watch over) DOGErs, including overtime
Contracts for private security, drivers
Direct "reimbursements" to DOGErs for "travel" (hotel, short-term rent, food, taxis, car rental, flights)
Where are they?
Perfect for finding you when they open the camps.
Also, for stopping all benefits to your family.
(sorry for the snark; you're good.)
In 1965, we had 1 [non-postal] federal employee per 102 Americans.
Today, it's 1 per 155.
And the USPS has shrunk, to boot.
☆ The myth that the federal workforce has become bloated in recent yrs has gained wide purchase*, but it's false. Not just false, but backwards. ☆
Constitution: Our government creates our currency
Maybe they’re making an omelette?
Bulk storage is *cheap*. Even fast storage isn't that expensive: well under $0.10/GB/mon. $40MM would buy more storage than I think you could physically fill as a pure fn of bandwidth in that time.
It is almost assuredly SW costs: Grok AI, or maybe a kickback to Palantir, or...
Are they charging for the use of their servers and Grok instances?
Regardless, are they actually following procurement laws? Doesn’t seem likely.