July 13, 2026
Much Waste, Very Missing
DOGE is done. What happened to its records?
DOGE shut down, but readers think the real trick was making the paper trail vanish
TLDR: DOGE has officially ended, but a fight is exploding over whether its records will ever become public after reports that key digital traces may already be gone. Commenters are torn between anger and grim humor, with many calling it a cover-up and others saying the whole project looked shady from the start.
The internet is not buying the quiet ending of DOGE, the government cost-cutting project that shook up federal agencies and then seemingly slipped offstage with its records shrouded in mystery. The big outrage? Readers say this looks less like cleanup and more like a disappearing act. The article argues the White House is trying to keep DOGE files out of public view by treating them like presidential papers, which usually stay hidden for years, while lawsuits fight over whether the public should get access sooner. A Wired report poured fuel on the fire by alleging DOGE-linked accounts at a labor agency were deleted before investigators could review them.
And wow, the comments went straight to full alarm mode. One furious poster flatly declared, “This government is criminal,” turning the whole thread into a referendum on secrecy, power, and whether democracy can survive when taxpayers can’t see what was done in their name. Another commenter said DOGE was “always an obvious con,” arguing that promises to slash waste always sound great until real services get cut and nobody likes the result. But there was also a more conflicted lane: one self-described software guy admitted he initially found the mission tempting, because anyone who’s suffered through broken systems can fantasize about a giant efficiency fix — only for that curiosity to sour into skepticism.
And because this is the internet, somebody had to break the tension with a groaner: “They doged the bullet.” Dark politics, missing records, and a dad joke cameo? The comments section really said: chaos, but make it quotable.
Key Points
- •The article says DOGE has formally ended without a public accounting of its actions.
- •The Trump administration argued DOGE was only advisory to the president and therefore not subject to immediate FOIA requests.
- •If treated as presidential records, DOGE files would not be available under FOIA until five years after the administration leaves office.
- •A Wired investigation found that the National Labor Relations Board deleted DOGE team accounts before investigators could audit them following a whistleblower complaint.
- •Lawsuits from CREW and American Oversight are challenging DOGE's claimed FOIA exemption, and judges have ordered records preserved while the cases continue.