DOGE Isn’t Gone—It’s Gone Underground

DOGE hasn’t vanished at all—it’s embedded itself deep inside federal agencies and is quietly shaping power from within.

For all the breathless reports declaring the Department of Government Efficiency a political flame-out, government insiders say the opposite: DOGE operatives have “burrowed into the agencies like ticks,” settling into positions that outlast news cycles and social-media tantrums. The public may not see them, but their fingerprints are everywhere.

The clearest glimpse into this shadow network came courtesy of Yat Choi, a fresh DOGE recruit who treated Instagram like a confessional booth last month. His slideshow? A fever dream of Trump-era revelry: officials dancing on the White House lawn to “Y.M.C.A,” staffers piling into what looks suspiciously like a private jet, and house parties draped in American flags where guests sipped High Noons under red-white-and-blue fedoras. One DOGE member summed up the vibe of recent months as “crazy”—and honestly, that tracks.

These aren’t just frat-house antics. They’re signals of a cadre that feels untouchable, one that sees itself as both insurgent and indispensable. And while the Trump administration continues to spin DOGE as a technocratic efficiency project, the lived reality inside government looks a lot more like a parallel power structure staffed with loyalists who think bureaucracy is theirs to remold.

So no—DOGE isn’t dead. It’s metastasized. And anyone pretending otherwise is either not paying attention or finds comfort in the delusion.

Source: WIRED

Editor: If your government reform unit starts posting party-jet highlight reels, maybe it’s less “efficiency initiative” and more “influencer house with security clearance.”