This week’s government efficiency update comes at a turbulent moment for federal spending and tax policy in the nation’s capital. Washington is now deep into a federal government shutdown that has entered its second month, putting renewed scrutiny on the question: is D.C. pumping tax money into waste, or is meaningful reform possible?

In a bold move to reshape federal spending, President Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Their remit is ambitious—Musk declared intentions to cut two trillion dollars from a federal budget that reached $6.75 trillion last year. Ramaswamy advocates for eliminating up to 75% of the federal workforce and axing entire agencies like the Department of Education and the FBI. The power group is recruiting a literal army of high-IQ, unpaid revolutionaries, demanding 80-hour weeks to weed out government waste. However, their role is strictly advisory; the recommendations they make for the 2027 budget can be ignored by Congress and the White House.

While high-level reform is debated, Senator Joni Ernst, founder of the Senate Department of Government Efficiency Caucus, is targeting more immediate fiscal wins by pushing the Disposal Act. That bill would force the sale of six prominent and underused federal properties in D.C., with the potential to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars and slash billions in overdue maintenance costs. Real estate in the capital is littered with buildings described as “future locations for Spirit Halloween stores,” underlining just how much taxpayer money goes toward essentially empty office space.

Meanwhile, listeners are seeing the effects of “efficiency” firsthand. The ongoing shutdown has halted disbursement of SNAP benefits and left 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers without pay. Courts have just ruled the USDA’s cutoff of nutrition aid unlawful, but the administration is under pressure to explain how it will fund November benefits—another sign of the real-world consequences of cost-cutting at the top.

With unemployment rising, local D.C. leaders are urging community resilience and new strategies to support those suddenly out of work. As the shutdown’s ripple effects grow, the debate over whether D.C. is pumping out tax money or finally tackling government inefficiency only intensifies.

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