- Elon Musk asked his X followers if DOGE should audit the IRS. They overwhelmingly said yes.
- Musk created confusion Monday when he said he shut down the government agency that runs the IRS’ Direct File service in the middle of tax season.
- DOGE said it currently saves the federal government $1 billion a day thanks to cuts.
Elon Musk asked his 216 million X followers if they would like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to audit the IRS. The more than 415,000 people who responded to the survey in the hour and a half overwhelmingly said yes.
The unofficial results showed 54% of respondents said yes, 40% said “F Yes” and only 6% said no.
Would you like @DOGE to audit the IRS?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2025
The post came a day after Musk created confusion when he said he deleted a government agency that works on technology projects, including the IRS’ Direct File, a free electronic tax return system. That led some to wonder whether the service was going to be accepting returns this year.
The Associated Press reported Direct File is still operational, citing an IRS employee who was not authorized to speak on the matter.
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What has DOGE done since Trump’s second term began?
On Friday night, Jan. 31, DOGE gained full access to the Treasury Department’s payment system. The system controls distributions for Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants and payments to government contractors and more.
Musk said his team found that employees who ran the system approved payments invariably.
“The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups,” Musk wrote on X. “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.”
DOGE said it is saving the federal government $1 billion a day through the federal government hiring freeze, ending DEI initiatives and stopping payments to foreign organizations. It releases daily reports that reveal specific details of canceled contracts.
Musk is serving as a “special government employee” as he leads DOGE. According to the Justice Department, that means he is expected to work 130 days or less during a 365-day period. He also has a top-secret security clearance, according to CNN.
