The Department of Government Efficiency has so far trimmed $8.5 billion from federal contracts — a sliver of the government's total spending.

The federal government now holds equity stakes in more than a dozen private companies — MP Materials at 15 percent, Intel at 10 percent, Trilogy Metals at 10 percent, Lithium Americas at 5 percent, Korea Zinc at 10 percent — a portfolio critics call "Republican socialism.

The watchdog concluded that DOGE's headline figure of $110 billion in taxpayer savings is vastly inflated, while its verified contract cuts total just $8.5 billion — and the unit operates with minimal public disclosure.

The post-2008 TARP program set the precedent: Congress authorized $700 billion, Treasury disbursed $443.5 billion, and the government took equity stakes in banks to stabilize the system.

Today's mineral and chip stakes are framed as long-term industrial policy, not temporary crisis response.

The Congressional Budget Office reports FY2025 outlays of $7.010 trillion and a deficit of $1.775 trillion, with FY2026 projected outlays of $7.449 trillion and a deficit of $1.853 trillion — debt held by the public reaching 100.6 percent of GDP.

Conservatives argue that these equity positions are temporary, purpose-driven stabilizers — but even conservative outlets like Reason and National Review warn that government ownership, once begun, tends to expand.

If you believe the public deserves a clear, auditable ledger of every dollar the government invests in private enterprises, contact your representatives and demand quarterly, machine-readable disclosures of all federal equity stakes — so the debate can be fought with facts, not slogans.

Total runtime ≈ 14 minutes (840 seconds).