DOGE Is Uncovering The Corruption The Media Ignored

For an industry that fashions its participants as diligent truth-seekers dedicated to uprooting government corruption, America’s legacy media has once again shown itself to be its biggest defender.

The latest case study of this phenomenon came on Tuesday during an executive order signing ceremony featuring X owner Elon Musk, who President Donald Trump tasked with leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The president’s newly signed directive lays out guidance for DOGE and the administration in “eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity” within the federal bureaucracy.

When the time came to field questions from the press, the media wasted no time in fomenting Democrats’ baseless conspiracy that Musk’s efforts to identify and remove waste from the federal government represent an unprecedented and authoritarian coup against the United States. In one particular exchange, a left-wing activist masquerading as a White House reporter asked the DOGE leader what his response is to “criticism” from his “detractors … including a lot of Democrats … [who] say that [he’s] orchestrating a hostile takeover of government and doing it in a non-transparent way.”

Musk responded to the non-question by noting how “a majority of the public” gave the administration a “strong[] mandate” to root out government waste when they elected Trump and gave Republicans control of Congress. He additionally highlighted how Trump made no secret about his plans to undertake such actions during the 2024 campaign.

“The people voted for major government reform. There should be no doubt about that. That was on the campaign. The president spoke about that at every rally,” Musk said. “The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get.”

What the activist “reporter” declined to mention in his accusatory query, however, is that many of Musk’s most notable “detractors” are members of the corporate media.

In the few weeks the Trump administration has been in power, these so-called defenders of “democracy” have been having a cataclysmic meltdown about DOGE’s ongoing efforts to identify waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the federal government. From penning hyperbolic articles to having childish outbursts on cable television, the lengths the media have gone to vilify the investigative watchdog group have been nothing short of extraordinary.

Yet for all their supposed outrage, the media’s latest hoax about the nonexistent “threat” DOGE poses to the constitutional order they clearly loathe shines a light on a damning truth. That is, that DOGE has done more to unearth government corruption in one month than corporate media “journalists” have done in years.

Much of the waste and abuse of taxpayer money that’s being exposed by the government watchdog is easily discoverable. As The Federalist’s Beth Brelje recently observed, “A lot of this information has been readily available on the government spending website USAspending.gov, which was spurred to life in 2006 in part through the efforts of Federalist CEO and Co-Founder Sean Davis.”

[READ: Follow The Money: Feds Gave Millions To Left-Wing Media Outlets Including Politico, The New York Times]

At any point in the past several years, self-described “journalists” could’ve taken time out of their day to dig into the government’s spending habits to ensure taxpayers’ money is being used properly and efficiently. But much like their handling of former President Joe Biden’s ailing mental health, the media chose not to acknowledge it, let alone investigate it.

For all their talk about “democracy” dying in “darkness,” it’s these left-wing propagandists and their dereliction of real journalism that’s a threat to the American republic.

Whether it was pushing the Russia collusion hoax or participating in the Hunter Biden laptop cover-up, the press have happily acted as mouthpieces for Democrats and unelected leftist bureaucrats seeking to undermine Trump and the will of the people. At every turn, the truth has taken a backseat to the Democrat Party agenda, allowing bureaucratic corruption to continue unabated.

The media’s sudden interest in “transparency” over DOGE has nothing to do with holding officials accountable or keeping the public informed. It has everything to do with upholding the status quo they’ve spent decades protecting, and they will say or do anything to keep it.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood