Doge Is Trying to Gift Itself a $500M Building
42 comments
·April 1, 2025jsight
So, the government funds them, the President issued an order to dismantle them, and now another government agency wants the building? That last part seems reasonable.
Whether dismantling them is right or wrong seems to be the real question here.
DarkWiiPlayer
Both are wrong. The "real question" just isn't about this specific case on its own. In a vacuum, this wouldn't really be news in the first place.
The problem is the pattern that this is an example of, and together with all the other cases, it starts to reveal an image of the USA turning into a cleptocracy.
jsight
A Kleptocracy is when the government takes its own buildings from one department and transfers them to another department?
actionfromafar
Where's your creativity? Then the other department sells the building "on the private market" (some Musk company) for a "fair price" (Musk makes an offer he can't refuse to himself) and Bob's your Uncle.
Have some patience, sheesh. Rome wasn't razed in day.
blatantly
In what f'ng way does it seem reasonable. That is almost colonialist logic.
They invaded the premises.
actionfromafar
These people are probably beoynd saving. Up Musks "shit creek" if you will, with no map and no paddle, nor will to find one.
zoezoezoezoe
This is the peak of government efficiency
josefritzishere
To be clear the United States Institute for Peace is not a federal agency. It's a non-profit buisness with an EIN 52-1503251 and a W9 like every other non-profit. DOGE seized a private business. If they can seize USIP they can seize your start up. There's no legal difference. Here's their 990 form: https://filing-service.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/scanned-pd...
rich_sasha
Hard to know if this is April Fools. United States Institute of Peace doesn't have a funny acronym.
actionfromafar
Article is from March 18
blatantly
Right now, regarding US news, if it sounds like satire, it probably isn't.
ck2
The USAID building, which may not have actually been an executive agency under WhiteHouse control
They are in full spite mode.
Will take DECADES to rebuild and that may be the point.
spiderfarmer
That’s assuming you’ll start rebuilding this year.
actionfromafar
It's the United States Institute of Peace building the dogebags are stealing. It's hard to keep up with all the grift.
calculatte
Name a single major accomplishment of the USIP. That's the grift.
DarkWiiPlayer
Whatever education system you went through and came out saying shit like that is the real grift.
Think about it for a second. The USIP is a think tank. Think tanks don't accomplish things, that's not their purpose. Their stated mission is "education and training" ffs.
Next time at least read the opening paragraph of the wikipedia article of an org you call a "grift" on the public internet, you'll look a lot smarter that way.
SignalM
Click bait headlines allowed on here now? It clearly states they are giving it to the GSA which is the government - where the funds originally came from. Can't hand these people money without them complaining ..
axus
The US government was intentionally split into 3 parts. This "Institute of Peace" was established and funded by the US Congress. The Executive should be pursuing the intent of the legislation. In general they've been failing to faithfully execute the law.
I'd be totally fine with Congress cancelling the whole thing, but it hasn't happened.
blatantly
Which is a polite way of saying the GP doesn't know what the fuck they are talking about. Or they are trolling or filling airspace for the machine.
nineplay
No, nothing vaguely critical of the current administration is allowed here now. Astonishing really, I didn't think it would happen on HN of all places.
throwaway5752
It is not an executive building, and they have not claim to it. They will take credit for the cost savings, hence "gift".
This is not clickbait and can't be overstated, there is no precedent for this sort of action in recent history in the US. Your normalcy bias is the problem.
SignalM
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nickthegreek
The elected congresspeople who voted to fund this should go to jail, even though there is no law broken? You are advocating for a wild system of government sir.
actionfromafar
Wait 'til you find out what the next tax cut (for over 400k households) is going to be funded by: 4T debt.
insane_dreamer
It’s an independent non-executive non-profit established and funded by congress, not an agency under the executive branch.
GcryptUser
[dead]
oldpersonintx
[dead]
gagagah
[flagged]
JohnFen
> Going through DOGE reports
DOGE reports are too unreliable to be worth paying attention to.
cynicalsecurity
US is never going to go insolvent as long as dollar is the world's main currency and as long as US has the strongest army in the world.
USAID was not causing US to go insolvent, it was promoting US soft power in the world. Soft power saves money, for relevant cases it's cheaper than deploying troops.
cholantesh
>Going through DOGE reports [with maximum credulity], it's scary how much money is wasted, squandered and laundered.
Fixed.
JumpCrisscross
> USAID was a massive graft machine
Sort of irrelevant, right? Even if it was all grift, nothing is being saved if those resources are just stolen.
> I fear they will not reach the trillion etc they need in savings to stop the US going insolvent
Trump’s draft budget blows the deficit by $4 trillion to fund tax cuts for wealthy people. (I’d see my taxes go down under his plan, for what it’s worth. My mom, a bank teller, would not.)
watwut
Every time DOGE reports were checked, they contained glaring massive mistakes ... which is still giving them massive benefit of doubt as it is equally likely they just lied.
So, no. No scary waste, squandering or laundering was found by them. However, they themselves are breaking the law, lying and trying to defraud.
spiderfarmer
I saw what kind of people were attracted to Doge before they announced their first results and I’m not surprised.
theshrike79
You do know that USAID was a CIA front?
A global organisation helping people in countries where Americans aren't really popular? Literally the perfect way of getting agents a legitimate reason to be in the country.
AvAn12
What, Elon can’t afford another office building now?
DarkWiiPlayer
Honestly? Probably not, no. He could convince some loser investor to lend him the money because he's Elon fucking Musk, but I wouldn't assume he has even that much money just lying around.
That being said, an office building or two he could probably fund by just selling some other assets, but he wouldn't have gotten this rich with an attitude of using his own money to buy things for himself.
Next DOGE will defund gasoline in police cars and applaud their "trillions of savings" over the next 1,000 years.
I feel bad for anyone that is spending their lives on forums defending these puffed up hall monitors who were sent in to "fuck shit up" and will eventually end up in jail as scapegoats.