Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is aiming to slash spending and personnel by boosting attrition, according to sources. The plan involves depressing morale, resulting in the liquidation of up to half of the government’s non-military real estate, which would lead to office closures and longer commutes.
The General Services Administration (GSA), responsible for managing federal property, is the primary target. A senior official stated that DOGE aims to make buildings so unpleasant that workers will leave. Once staff depart, artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to automate jobs, with the goal of replacing humans.
DOGE plans to use AI tools on government records to determine how to replace human workers. The US DOGE Service has developed a chatbot for the GSA called “GSAi” to boost employee productivity by analyzing contracts and drafting documents.
The plan has caused concern among civil servants, who were expected to return to offices under President Trump’s mandate. However, the administration had offered buyouts to 2 million employees to reduce the federal workforce. A judge temporarily blocked this offer as the deadline approached.
DOGE’s goal is to terminate up to 300 leases per day, leading to a scramble to find workspaces and fulfill IT needs for remaining civil servants.
Source: https://fortune.com/2025/02/09/doge-elon-musk-federal-workforce-cuts-gsa-buildings-commutes-rto-mandate