A former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), now working for Dogecoin, has made a surprising statement about his experience with federal waste, fraud, and abuse in the US government.
Sahil Lavingia, who joined DOGE in March, had previously sought to work for the U.S. Digital Service, but eventually landed a job at DOGE. He stated that he was expecting to find significant inefficiency and waste in the government, but found it “relatively nonexistent”.
Lavingia attributed this to a bias from his background in the tech industry, where he had worked at companies like Google and Facebook. However, he believed that the government has been under scrutiny for decades and is therefore more efficient than expected.
Despite his efforts to be transparent and ask for forgiveness rather than permission, Lavingia’s access was revoked just 55 days into his work at DOGE without any explanation. He believes this may have been due to irony, as he had expressed transparency and openness during the interview.
Lavingia’s statement challenges common perceptions of government inefficiency and waste, and highlights the need for more open and honest discussions about government accountability and transparency.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/06/02/nx-s1-5417994/former-doge-engineer-shares-his-experience-working-for-the-cost-cutting-unit