Elon Musk walks on Capitol Hill on the day of a meeting with Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune (R-SD), in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024.
While the Trump administration had hoped for 200,000 resignations, just over 40,000 employees – less than 2% of the federal workforce – had reportedly accepted the offer as of Wednesday.
Another federal judge also limited DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department payments system over privacy concerns on Thursday. That order gives “read only” access to two DOGE employees, both of whom have close ties to Musk.
Despite these legal measures, DOGE employees are fanning out across federal agencies, including the Center for Disease Control, the Labor Department, and the big kahuna: Medicare and Medicaid. Since Wednesday, DOGE officials have gained access to payment and contracting systems for both Medicare and Medicaid, which control hundreds of billions in healthcare provider payments.
DOGE aims to tackle fraud in the system – some of the $100 billion in improper Medicare and Medicaid payments in 2023 – by strengthening existing anti-fraud efforts. But some fear the complexity of the healthcare system could lead to mistakes and overly aggressive cuts. Any missteps that cost voters their insurance or lead to grave health consequences could cost Republicans in the 2026 midterms.