Roughly 100 days after Elon Musk’s dramatic departure from the Trump White House, federal workers are still grappling with the lasting damage from his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The consequences of this unprecedented assault on the federal bureaucracy are expected to reverberate for years.From his modest office in the executive building adjacent to the White House, Musk orchestrated an aggressive takeover of major government branches. His strategy was surgical yet devastating: deploy small teams of tech experts to systematically dismantle and disrupt the nation’s more than 2 million-strong civil service.The shock-and-awe campaign succeeded beyond expectations. According to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan Washington-based NGO, nearly 200,000 civil servants have left the federal workforce so far. For many of these workers — including numerous military veterans — the experience proved profoundly traumatic, with decades-long careers abruptly terminated and their life’s work dismissed as meaningless waste.Following Musk’s very public falling-out with President Trump this spring, DOGE has been largely dismantled. “Not much” remains of the original operation, explained Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service.”It’s a little bit like Godzilla having flattened the city and left,” Stier told AFP. “Godzilla is gone, but there’s still a flattened city.”- ‘Unfixable’ -Musk himself now declares the US government “basically unfixable,” having concluded that lawmakers from both parties will resist spending cuts that could alienate voters and donors.Most of DOGE’s leadership followed Musk’s exit, including Steve Davis, Musk’s trusted lieutenant who led the teams that infiltrated government offices and computer systems to implement budget cuts. However, some operatives remain embedded throughout the federal government, working as regular employees while continuing to exert influence: making their activities harder to monitor.”Don’t misunderstand the lack of the loud face that was Elon Musk to think they have disappeared,” warned one Pentagon worker, speaking anonymously to avoid retaliation. “DOGE is still alive and causing a ruckus.”Several prominent Musk allies maintain significant positions.Joe Gebbia, Airbnb co-founder and Tesla board member, now oversees the redesign of government websites.Aram Moghaddassi serves as chief information officer at the Social Security Administration, though a whistleblower has accused his team of uploading a critical database to a vulnerable cloud server, potentially exposing hundreds of millions of Americans’ personal information to hackers.Brad Smith, a health startup investor, initially left DOGE after implementing sweeping cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (now led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), but has returned to oversee global health initiatives at the State Department.Scott Kupor, former managing partner at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, now heads the US Office of Personnel Management — the federal government’s massive human resources operation. His former boss, Marc Andreessen, remains highly influential within the White House.Other Musk loyalists occupy more junior positions throughout the government. In a bizarre development, Edward Coristine — who gained media attention under the nickname “Big Balls” — took a regular government job and helped trigger Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to patrol Washington’s streets after Coristine was assaulted in the capital.- Who is DOGE? -These changes have complicated DOGE’s very definition. “The question of, how do you define DOGE? Who is DOGE? has gotten a lot more complicated,” observed Faith Williams, director of the effective and accountable government program at the Project on Government Oversight.Officially, Amy Gleeson, a health tech sector veteran, now leads the department as acting chief, but her White House influence is minimal. Federal workers report that DOGE’s mission has effectively been transferred to Russell Vought, a fierce opponent of government who now controls the powerful Office of Management and Budget.For civil liberties advocate Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, these developments are “extremely worrisome” because DOGE’s work now operates “behind a curtain” and away from public scrutiny.This hidden operation includes acts of incompetence and questionable decision-making, as reported by whistleblowers and disillusioned employees who have left government to expose wrongdoing.”My bet is that for every whistleblower you see, there’s some very large multiple of bad things that have happened, which we don’t know about,” Stier warned.The federal workforce meanwhile must continue to navigate this transformed landscape, dealing with skeleton crews and knowledge gaps while what is left of DOGE operates largely out of public view.

A white light flashes above the studio door as Bonnie Ralston takes to the air waves of Allegheny Mountain Radio, one of the many stations across the United States imperiled by President Donald Trump’s funding cuts. The station, which relies on volunteers like Ralston, is one of the only to broadcast in the area, delivering news, sports and music to the small mountain towns along the border of Virginia and West Virginia.”We don’t know what is going to happen to us,” Ralston, 59, told AFP.At Trump’s request, Republicans in Congress voted to cut federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the key funding source for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), both of which conservatives have long accused of liberal bias.But those funds also backed many smaller radio and TV stations around the nation.Allegheny Mountain Radio, for instance, is expected to lose funding that accounted for 60-65 percent of its budget.The small station, which employs 10 people, has enough reserves to survive for at least a year, said general manager Scott Smith.”We cannot continue operating in the red and pulling from reserves forever. We know we’re going to run out of money at some time if we don’t find more income.””Ultimately, the consequences are our very existence when it comes down to it,” said Smith, 58.- ‘We need it’ -Nestled in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains in the Appalachia region of the eastern United States, the radio station is one of the only local media outlets in the rural area.Few outside radio signals reach this remote region, about 60 miles from the nearest shopping center, where the telephone network is unreliable.In Monterey, a small town of around 120 residents, Allegheny Mountain Radio is a lifeline.”It’s very vital for local information,” said Jay Garber, the mayor of Monterey, noting that most of the town’s inhabitants are elderly and rely on traditional forms of media.Local resident Polly Turner, 74, told AFP she does not own a computer and depends on the radio station to stay informed.”We need it. We’ll be lost without it,” she said.Chris Wayne, another Monterey local, warned that the loss of Allegheny Mountain Radio could have serious consequences.”As soon as you get out of town a little bit, the cellphone signal goes away. So if you don’t have that, the radio station is the only way you’re gonna find out if there’s, like, flood water coming,” the 42-year-old explained, adding that the town is located below the Jackson River, a major waterway.- Community support -Allegheny Mountain Radio’s rural listeners, who overwhelmingly supported Trump during last year’s presidential election, have not always welcomed the radio station despite its vital role. “Some people say we’re too leftist because we utilize NPR newscast,” Smith, the station’s manager, said. “I think the majority of people here understand the value that we provide, no matter what political orientation they might ascribe to,” he continued. Since Congress finalized the funding cuts, messages of support have poured in from the community, and more than 200 people have donated to keep Allegheny Mountain Radio running. The communal rallying has left Smith feeling “optimistic.” “When you’ve got that level of support and validation coming to you, it only hardens your resolve,” he said.”We’re not going to roll over and die. We’re going to keep kicking and fighting and finding ways to make this work.”

The man arrested over conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassination was romantically involved with a transgender roommate and had “leftist ideology,” Utah’s governor said Sunday, confirming details likely to inflame the contentious national debate over the killing.”Yes I can confirm that,” Governor Spencer Cox told CNN’s “State of the Union” talk show when asked about suspect Tyler Robinson’s reported relationship with a trans partner.”The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to a female,” Cox said.”This partner has been incredibly cooperative, had no idea that this was happening, and is working with investigators right now,” he added.Cox, who said 22-year-old Robinson is expected to be formally charged Tuesday, went on to stress it was not yet clear whether the partner’s transitioning was part of the alleged shooter’s mindset to kill Kirk, a close ally of US President Donald Trump.”Again, all of these things — we’re trying to figure out,” he said.Cox, who has earned plaudits for urging Americans to lower the toxic political temperature, made the rounds of US networks Sunday and told NBC talk show “Meet the Press” that investigators believed Robinson had embraced leftist beliefs.”There clearly was a leftist ideology with this — with this assassin,” Cox said.He said such information about Robinson, who has not been cooperating, was told to investigators by “people around him, from his family members and friends.”Several US media outlets on Saturday reported Robinson’s relationship with a transgender individual, sparking fury by far-right activists for whom gender identity issues have been a key focus in recent years.Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer who has Trump’s ear, called Saturday “to designate the Trans movement as a terrorist movement,” while X-owner Elon Musk elevated multiple posts calling for gender treatment bans and denouncing leftist ideology.On Saturday he went further, telling a London march organized by far-right activists that “the left is the party of murder.”Cox meanwhile reiterated a call for civility across the political spectrum, while attacking social media giants by comparing their addictive algorithms to the deadly drug fentanyl.- ‘Trans delusion’ -Kirk was shot Wednesday during a speaking event on a Utah university campus. He was the founder of the conservative youth political group Turning Point USA and was a strong critic of the transgender rights movement.He wrote on X about what he called a “trans delusion death cult” in August, shortly after two children were killed and nine others wounded at a school church shooting in Minneapolis by an assailant authorities say was a 23-year-old man who claimed to be transgender.Kirk’s provocations have stirred debate. He often invoked his Christian faith and criticized what he and others have called gender ideology.In a video posted in 2023 by Right Wing Watch, Kirk is seen describing individuals being transgender to a church audience as “a throbbing middle finger to God.”With debate raging over what inspired Kirk’s murder, a member of former president Joe Biden’s cabinet, Pete Buttigieg, stressed there was “not a consistent pattern of left versus right among the shooters” in recent high-profile attacks, noting that Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in June.”We have to reject anyone who would try to exploit political violence,” Buttigieg told NBC.”The response to this cannot be for the government to crack down on individuals or groups because they challenge the government politically.”Turning Point USA announced that a memorial service for Kirk will take place in a football stadium near Phoenix, Arizona on September 21, which Trump confirmed he will attend Sunday.