If you tuned into Fox News recently, you probably saw a scene that felt more like a Silicon Valley board meeting than a typical political segment. Bret Baier sat down for an hour-long "Special Report" exclusive with Elon Musk and seven key members of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. It wasn't just a quick soundbite. It was a dense, sometimes combative look at how a group of tech billionaires and executives is trying to rip up the federal budget and start over.
Some people are calling it a revolution. Others think it’s a chaotic overreach. Honestly, the reality is probably somewhere in the middle, and the Bret Baier DOGE interview gave us the clearest look yet at what's actually happening behind the scenes in Washington D.C.
The "Apple Store" Vision for Government
One of the most viral moments came from Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb. He told Baier that the team wants the American government to feel like an "Apple Store experience." It sounds nice, right? Fast, clean, efficient. But when you’re talking about the Social Security Administration or the IRS, the stakes are a bit higher than a cracked iPhone screen.
Musk doubled down on this, claiming they want to reduce federal spending by 15%. He argued that this is "quite achievable" just by cutting waste and fraud.
"This is a revolution, and I think it might be the biggest revolution in government since the original revolution," Musk told Baier.
The team basically argued that the government is drowning in its own bureaucracy. They brought up the example of federal credit cards. Steve Davis, the COO of DOGE, pointed out that there are roughly 4.6 million federal credit cards for only about 2.4 million employees. "Clearly there should not be more credit cards than there are people," Musk quipped. It's a simple point, but it illustrates the kind of "common sense" logic they’re trying to apply to a system that hasn't seen a real audit in decades.
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What’s Happening with Social Security?
This is where things got a little heated. There have been reports—specifically from the Washington Post—that DOGE’s interference has caused the Social Security Administration (SSA) website to crash and wait times to skyrocket. Baier didn't hold back on these questions.
Musk’s response was a bit of a "trust me" moment. He claimed that "legitimate recipients of Social Security will receive more money, not less money" because of their fraud-fighting efforts. He even asked for the record to show he said it. Aram Moghaddassi, a software engineer on the DOGE team, noted that about 40% of the phone calls the SSA receives are actually from fraudsters trying to change direct deposit information.
The strategy seems to be:
- Identify the fraud.
- Automate the simple stuff.
- Save the money for the people who actually need it.
But critics aren't convinced. They argue that "moving fast and breaking things"—the classic Silicon Valley mantra—is dangerous when it applies to the safety net for millions of seniors.
The Personnel "Purge" That Isn't (Yet)
There’s been a lot of talk about mass firings. You've probably seen the headlines. However, during the Bret Baier DOGE interview, Anthony Armstrong (a former banker now working on the Office of Personnel Management) claimed that less than 0.15% of the federal workforce has actually been given a formal "Reduction in Force" (RIF) notice.
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Basically, they’re saying people are leaving on their own. Voluntary departures. Musk added that "almost no one has gotten fired" yet. Instead, they are focusing on eliminating entire programs and departments they deem redundant.
Who else was at the table?
It wasn't just Elon. The room was packed with high-level tech talent:
- Steve Davis: The guy who helped Musk take over Twitter (now X).
- Joe Gebbia: The Airbnb co-founder.
- Brad Smith: A healthcare entrepreneur looking at the NIH’s 700 different IT systems.
- Tom Krause: Former Cloud Software Group CEO.
- Aram Moghaddassi: The engineer tackling the Social Security mess.
These aren't career politicians. They’re "special government employees," a designation that allows them to work for the admin while sidestepping some of the stricter ethics and transparency rules that usually apply to federal staffers. This has led to nearly two dozen lawsuits alleging they’re acting without legal authority.
The $4 Billion-a-Day Claim
One of the wildest stats to come out of the discussion was Musk’s claim that DOGE is cutting an average of $4 billion every single day. If they keep that up for their 18-month mandate, they’d hit over $500 billion in savings.
Is that number real? It's hard to say. The New York Times recently reported that some of the "savings" DOGE claimed on its public "Wall of Receipts" website were miscalculated—like listing an $8 million contract as an $8 billion one.
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When Baier pushed him on the "shoot from the hip" criticism, Musk defended the pace. He said they "measure twice, if not thrice," but admitted they will make mistakes. "If we were to approach this with the standard of making no mistakes at all, that would be like saying someone in baseball has got to bat a thousand," he told Baier.
Why the Bret Baier DOGE Interview Matters Now
This interview happened against a backdrop of massive protests at Tesla showrooms and growing tension in D.C. It’s a clash of cultures. On one side, you have the "permanent state" of government workers who know how the gears turn. On the other, you have a group of "disruptors" who think the machine is broken beyond repair.
The DOGE team is currently operating in almost every federal agency. They’ve grown to over 100 staffers and plan to hit 200 soon. They are looking at everything from the Small Business Administration (where Musk claimed loans were being given to 9-month-old infants) to the NIH (which has 27 different CIOs).
Actionable Insights for the Taxpayer
If you’re trying to figure out how the Bret Baier DOGE interview actually affects your life, keep an eye on these three areas:
- Social Security & IRS Portals: Expect more "tech-first" changes. This might mean better apps, but it could also mean more system downtime as they swap out old code. If you have pending paperwork, try to handle it sooner rather than later in case of "disruptions."
- Federal Job Openings: If you or someone you know works for the feds, the "voluntary departure" pressure is likely to increase. The focus is shifting toward automation and "lean" operations.
- Transparency Reports: Check the official DOGE "Wall of Receipts" occasionally. While some numbers have been questioned, it's the first time we've seen a real-time (or close to it) ledger of where the government thinks it's wasting your money.
The interview made one thing clear: Musk and his team aren't going away quietly. They see themselves as the architects of a new American government. Whether that architecture is stable enough to hold up the weight of the country remains the multi-trillion-dollar question.
Stay informed by following the actual legal filings. While the Fox News interview gives you the "vision," the courtrooms in D.C. will determine if DOGE actually has the power to pull it off. You can track the progress of the $1 trillion deficit reduction goal through the Treasury’s monthly statements to see if the DOGE numbers are actually reflecting in the national debt.