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So, we're from the Department of Government Efficiency, and we're here because we have no idea what you guys actually do around here. Where's the gold, where's the money going and how many 50-year-olds are you paying every month? All the funds are allocated, but what exactly are they allocated for? Also, why do 50,000 federal employees owe $1.5 billion in taxes? After an audit of the IRS, we found you owe $50 million. What about your chief of the flat office navigation team getting paid $20,000,000 a year to find the edge of the office? I want to see every receipt. If I find out even one cent went to funding secret IRS strip clubs, I'll throw you in the deepest, darkest prison cell in America! Ultimately, we're going to fire some people, abolish the IRS, and turn IRS workers into ICE workers.

The records Joe Gebbia was trying to digitize were stored at Iron Mountain, about an hour north of Pittsburgh, in Boyers, Pennsylvania, where there is a limestone mine 220 feet underground. Since 1960, the federal government has used the mine as a retirement office. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) keeps about 450 employees working down there full-time alongside 26,000 file cabinets holding over 400 million paper records. The site processes about 10,000 federal retirements every month by hand. A key point discussed is that the issue is not that technology has failed to digitize the records. Every administration since Reagan has tried to digitize the records, and the attempts failed for multiple reasons. The transcript says that doing it correctly, lawfully and with the Federal Office of Personnel’s required legal protections, is very expensive and politically contentious. It also claims that physical paperwork in a mine has a different level of protection than digitized paperwork. The transcript then describes a strategy attributed to Joe Gebbia and his team at Doge: they began moving the records onto the digital infrastructure controlled by the White House. Rather than digitizing under legal guardrails, the transcript says they worked around the legal guardrails and “called it a day.” The speaker describes an investigation into what Gebbia was doing with National Design Studio, saying they ran into roadblocks when trying to follow the money. The transcript states that the work appears to be done “off the books,” with no contracts on USAspending, the office not registered on SAM.gov as a federal procurement entity, and National Design Studio not technically existing. When the speaker could not follow money, they say they followed the data instead, arguing that data leaves residual traces. The transcript then connects this approach to what Larry Ellison’s company was doing over the prior decade. It describes Oracle running a network of tracking tools embedded across the internet to build “digital dossiers,” files containing very sensitive information about people, including where they lived, where they banked, what they bought, and political views, race, and other information. It says Ellison publicly claimed in 2015 that Oracle had dossiers on roughly 5 billion people. The transcript adds that Oracle was sued in federal court in 2022 for building those files without consent, and that in July 2024 Oracle settled for $115 million and shut the entire operation down. The transcript concludes by stating that five months after Oracle’s dossier operation ended, Joe Gebbia joined Doge in the White House.

Replica case folders are used when government employees retire. Compiling these folders is done by hand and takes six months. The process involves moving the folders around on carts through a mine for storage. Calculations are also done by hand. The speaker states that processing these folders is more difficult than doing taxes in the dark. They are bringing this retirement process online with modern software. As of tonight, 25 retirees are going through an entirely online retirement process for the first time. This is a collaboration with retirement services inside OPM. The record for one retiree is a whole pallet with 27 boxes of paper.

The people want an active government that doesn't waste money. To deliver change, we're reorganizing the government to save taxpayer dollars. We're cutting the federal bureaucracy by 100,000 positions through attrition and reducing administrative costs by 12%. Unproductive advisory commissions will be eliminated, and agencies can't create new ones without approval. Government regulations and procurement rules hurt the system, so we will cut waste, streamline bureaucracy, and change these rules to make government work better. This includes downsizing the government, improving customer service, and overhauling federal procurement and personnel systems. The goal is to make government work for the people, eliminate unnecessary programs, and reduce the federal workforce. We're committed to cutting spending and reducing the deficit to ensure a stronger economy for the future.

We propose starting from zero and determining what's necessary, aiming for a 75% reduction in federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. The federal Department of Education, which spends $80 billion, is unnecessary since education should be managed locally. By eliminating excessive regulations and reducing the federal bureaucracy, we can lower the national debt and stimulate economic growth. These savings, combined with a growing economy, will help us stabilize finances without affecting Social Security or Medicare. Once we achieve a surplus in Social Security, we can reassess our financial strategies.

The goal is to restore democracy by fixing the feedback loop between the people and the government. We can't have a democracy if the bureaucracy is in charge and unresponsive to the public's elected representatives. The bureaucracy has become an unconstitutional branch of government with too much power. We also need to address the $2 trillion deficit, which threatens to bankrupt the country. Interest payments on the national debt exceed the defense budget. It's essential to reduce federal expenses to keep America solvent. We've found odd instances of bureaucrats with modest salaries accumulating tens of millions in net worth. Basic controls are missing, leading to blank checks being issued without categorization or explanation. Payments are made to entities on the "do not pay" list. We need common-sense controls to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and to address issues like Social Security payments to 150-year-olds.

I discovered that 20 million dead people are marked as alive in the social security database. Most fraud doesn't come directly from social security payments, but from disability, unemployment, and fake medical payments because these individuals are incorrectly marked as alive. We need to implement a simple "are you alive" check to prevent these fraudulent payments. This type of negligence would result in a public company being immediately delisted, and its executives imprisoned, but it's considered normal within the government. Therefore, I recommend that the Treasury and Federal Reserve make payment categorization codes mandatory, requiring an explanation for each payment, even if it's basic. This change would significantly improve the current system and potentially save hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

I'm David Nelson, a tax examining technician at the IRS. I'm speaking out because our systems are antiquated, specifically the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS) from the 1960s. It drastically hurts our efficiency. The entire US tax system relies on this outdated, command-code driven program, similar to an older version of MS-DOS. I even created a solution in my free time to address this, but can't use it without permission. Congress has been aware of these issues for years, but the funding provided is just a band-aid, not a real fix. I'm risking my career because I want to help the American people and my colleagues at the IRS. I want to set an example for my kids. I'm doing what I can to protect others and do the right thing.

Doge aims to cut the federal deficit by $1 trillion by reducing waste and fraud, targeting a 15% reduction in federal spending. Astonishingly, billions are wasted casually, like a billion-dollar online survey. The goal is to cut $4 billion daily, and Doge publishes findings on its website for transparency. The retirement process involves a mine with 400 million paper documents, a system from the 1950s, which Doge plans to digitize for efficiency. Social Security systems are outdated, costing $100 billion, with critical systems over 50 years old. 40% of Social Security phone calls are from fraudsters stealing benefits, which Doge aims to prevent, ensuring legitimate recipients receive more money. NIH has 27 centers with 700 IT systems that don't connect, each with its own CIO. The federal government has 4.6 million credit cards for 2.3 million employees. Treasury uses one bank account for all federal payments, lacking basic financial controls, leading to $500 billion in annual fraud. Small business loans have been given to those under 11 and over 120 years old due to disconnected systems.

The speaker was asked to help fix retirement in the government and discovered that all paper documents for the retirement process are housed in a mine in Pennsylvania. This mine contains 22,000 filing cabinets stacked 10 high, holding 400 million pieces of paper. The retirement process, largely unchanged since the 1950s, involves physical paperwork and can take many months. Currently, the government can only process about 8,000 retirements a month, with processing times taking six to nine months, and calculations are often incorrect. The goal is to digitize the process, creating an online system that takes only a few days. The speaker believes civil servants are subjected to outdated processes and aims to provide a modern, user-friendly experience. The overhaul is expected to be completed in the next couple of months.

The American people want effective government without wasted money. To deliver this, we're overhauling how government operates, beginning with a 25% reduction in White House staff and $10 million in savings. These steps will save taxpayers $9 billion. We're reducing the federal bureaucracy by at least 100,000 positions through attrition and cutting administrative costs by 12%. We're also eliminating unproductive advisory commissions. We aim to cut inessential spending and tackle the growing deficit and debt. Government programs should be efficient, and overhead must be reduced. These changes are crucial because debt consumes tax dollars and hinders private sector growth. We're also working to cut waste, streamline processes, improve customer service, and reform procurement and personnel systems. We need a government that works better, costs less, and treats taxpayers like customers.

Speaker 0 visited a mine used for storing physical media, specifically filing cabinets dating back to the 1960s, containing retirement paperwork. The speaker questions why paper is still used in 2025, showing an example of a retiree's case folder, which is compiled by hand and moved through the mine. Speaker 1 adds that the retirement process can take over six months due to the manual compilation and storage of paper documents, with calculations also done by hand. Speaker 0 states that the paperwork is extensive and difficult to process. They are implementing modern software to bring the retirement process online, and currently have 25 retirees going through an entirely online retirement process for the first time.

Improving government is incredibly difficult. The most difficult challenge is overcoming entropy, a battle physics tells us is impossible to win. The second most difficult is overcoming bureaucracy. It's a monumental struggle; bureaucracy is the penultimate battle in the fight for better government.

We need to reduce government size, particularly within the FBI, which has expanded unnecessarily. The FBI's intel operations have caused significant issues, and I would repurpose the Hoover building into a museum while reallocating its 7,000 employees to focus on law enforcement, tackling crime directly. Government reform is essential, and collaboration with Congress is necessary to eliminate redundant positions. During my time as deputy DNI, we identified and cut unnecessary roles, which Congress appreciated as it saved money. Agencies often request more positions without justification, leading to unfilled roles and wasted budgets. It's a misconception that agencies can't return unused funds; they often spend unnecessarily to avoid returning money to Congress.

Our government needs new incentives for bureaucracy to adapt and improve since they can't fail like individuals can. The technology revolution has changed private organizations, but our government is lagging behind. Our financial systems are outdated, unable to track trillions of dollars in transactions, and information sharing is hindered by incompatible technological systems.

The speakers discuss the government's outdated paper-based retirement process, which involves storing physical files in a mine. One speaker recounts visiting the mine filled with filing cabinets from the 1960s, emphasizing its security and climate control, but questioning the continued use of paper in 2025. The process requires compiling retirement papers by hand, moving them on carts, and can take over six months, with calculations also done manually. They are implementing a new online retirement process, with 25 retirees currently using it. They mention cases of single retirees having entire pallets or shopping carts of documents. They want to free up the thousands of people who are carrying paper into a mine. They compare the government's technology to the "Flintstones" era. The conversation shifts to the postal service, which is legally required to have a balanced budget but has been losing money since 2007 due to additional regulations. The postal service lost $9.5 billion last year. They believe they can modernize it and help them become profitable.

Our financial systems are outdated, hindering our progress. It is estimated that $2.3 trillion in transactions cannot be tracked. Additionally, we face challenges in sharing information within this building due to incompatible and inaccessible technological systems.

Many federal buildings across the United States are sitting empty, costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually for upkeep and repairs. A historically large number of federal office spaces in DC are either empty or underutilized. The government is spending money to keep these unused buildings open, even as many Americans struggle to afford their own homes. The existence of tens of thousands of empty buildings represents waste within the federal system.

Governments need to find incentives for bureaucracy to adapt and improve, unlike individuals or businesses that can fail and die. The technology revolution has transformed organizations in the private sector, but not the government. Our financial systems are outdated, with an estimated $2.3 trillion in untrackable transactions. Additionally, information cannot be shared within this building due to incompatible and inaccessible technological systems.

Prolonged peacetime leads to increased bureaucracy and government growth. Regulations multiply yearly, and war historically serves as a necessary, albeit undesirable, reset. To avoid this, we've created a Department of Government Efficiency. We'll streamline regulations at the executive level, requiring Congressional consent for law changes. Our goal is to eliminate harmful regulations, downsize government, and balance the budget. This is incredibly difficult; past attempts have failed, and we may not succeed this time.

In private equity, when taking over a bankrupt company, you need to cut deeper than initially planned. Agencies like the FAA are inefficient, not due to the people, but outdated technology. These agencies are like fat chickens dripping with waste. We need to act fast, cutting more aggressively. There is a 24-month window before the midterms to slash and hack away at the fat. Cut everything that doesn't add value. If they can't prove their worth, cut them. More cutting is needed. It's going to work out great if we cut deep and hard.

Our financial systems are outdated, hindering our progress. It is estimated that we are unable to trace $2.3 trillion in transactions. Additionally, the lack of compatibility between various technological systems prevents us from sharing information within this building.

A recent report revealed that only about 1% of federal employees are working in the office, excluding security personnel. This situation is unacceptable to the American public. The new administration and Congress will likely push for federal workers to return to their offices and fulfill their responsibilities. The focus will be on common sense, accountability, and efficiency in government, which will ultimately benefit the people.

We're exploring ways to improve the Postal Service, which has been losing significant amounts of money. One idea involves a merger, possibly with the Commerce Department, to enhance its efficiency. While it would remain the Postal Service, the aim is to make it function much better than it has in the past. Alternatively, we might leverage talented individuals from other departments to help reduce the financial losses. The goal is to find a solution that preserves the Postal Service's core functions while significantly improving its financial performance, whether through a merger or by utilizing existing expertise.