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Federal Waste: From Limestone Mines to FEMA Payments

Musk's DOGE initiative exposes $233 billion in annual federal fraud, prompting drastic budget and workforce cuts.

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One of the shocking revelations from DOGE’s investigations is the so-called “Iron Mountain” disaster—a limestone mine in Pennsylvania where federal retirement applications are still processed manually, using paper files stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes, by hundreds of federal workers 200-feet below earth. Musk described the operation as “a time warp,” noting that the mine’s elevator speed determines how many federal employees can retire each month. DOGE is reportedly pushing for full digitization of the system. Shares of Iron Mountain stock (IRM) - the contractor running the program - declined -10% on the events.

In another high-profile move, DOGE exposed FEMA’s $59 million expenditure to house migrants in luxury New York City hotels. The White House put out a memo of the new agency's findings, which highlighted millions of dollars sent to terrorist organizations. The White House also pointed to a GAO report put out under the Biden administration, stating that the U.S. Federal Government 'Loses an Estimated $233 Billion to $521 Billion Annually to Fraud.' The DOGE team thus far, has found supporting evidence of such, according to Musk. It's also discovered that hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars directly funded terror groups, leading to a full freeze of the $40 billion of USAID annual funding.

Over 75,000 federal workers have taken buyout agreements to quit the workforce forever, and many thousands more are being terminated. About 280,000 federal workers were hired over the past 2 years, making them easier to fire legally. The firings and DOGE cutting efforts are targeting the Defense Department next, and they are likely to find trillions in waste and expired assets as they advance plans to gut $1 Trillion in spending from the U.S. budget to balance a federal budget that has not been balanced since President Bill Clinton left a surplus to President George W. Bush 25 years ago.

The effects of these cuts and pauses on all federal grants is beginning to ripple through the economy. In Washington, D.C., listings of existing home sales have increased by 36% in just a week, with most based in the most affluent suburbs. Indeed we are witnessing a full scale roll back of the COVID relief packages and post-COVID debt spending that spiraled the federal debt, inflated costs by 25%, but fueled a massive stock market rally as money supply grew 40 percent in 5 years. Regions outside D.C. are not immune, with some Boston hospitals rumored to be planning staffing cuts due to revenue losses from the federal grants being put on pause or terminated altogether.  

The most affected companies are the direct recipients of federal dollars - those being BAH, SAIC, ICFI, CACI, LMT, NOC, HII, LDOS - among others. But there will continue to be ripple effects as houses are put up for sale among the unemployed or those forced to move for jobs now requiring them to be in the office.


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