Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), revealed Thursday night that a simple 10-question survey cost American taxpayers nearly $1 billion, an amount he says could’ve been reduced to just thousands using basic tools like SurveyMonkey.
Musk made the claim during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, as he and his team outlined findings from their ongoing audit of federal spending—part of a broader cost-cutting directive issued by President Donald Trump.
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“The sheer amount of waste and fraud in the government — it is astonishing. It’s mind-blowing,” Musk told Baier. “We routinely encounter waste of a billion dollars or more, casually.”
Musk said the survey was designed to gather simple public input, such as “Do you like the National Park?” but lacked any meaningful follow-up or actionable feedback loop. Despite its simplicity, Musk claims the government spent nearly $1 billion on the project.
“It was insane,” Musk said. “There appeared to be no feedback loop. The survey would just go into nothing.”
Following Trump’s return to office in January, the White House tapped Musk to lead DOGE, a newly created office tasked with auditing and overhauling federal programs. Musk, serving as a “special government employee” for 130 days, has pledged to reduce government waste and fraud by $4 billion per day, totaling $1 trillion in savings by the end of his term.
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“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” Musk said.
DOGE has already begun real-time cuts, according to Musk, redirecting taxpayer funds from bloated and redundant programs toward infrastructure, defense, and debt reduction.
The tech billionaire’s aggressive approach has not gone unnoticed — or unopposed. In February, Musk drew backlash from Democratic lawmakers after revealing his and President Trump’s plans to “upend” the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Musk claimed USAID had not only funded “radical leftist programs” abroad but had also funneled resources into projects that risked falling into Taliban control or aiding organizations linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Critics in Congress have accused Musk of politicizing foreign aid and lacking transparency in DOGE’s operations. Supporters, however, say the billionaire is delivering long-overdue accountability to a bloated federal system.
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With roughly four months remaining in his appointment, Musk says DOGE will continue operating at full speed.
“Every day that passes, our goal is to reduce the waste and fraud by $4 billion — seven days a week,” Musk said. “So far, we are succeeding.”
DOGE has yet to release a full public report, but Musk promised additional revelations in the coming weeks as the department continues its sweep through federal agencies.
The billion-dollar survey revelation has already sparked calls for congressional oversight and further investigation, as pressure mounts on lawmakers to explain how such spending was authorized — and what, if anything, it accomplished.
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