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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The March 2026 story behind this headline centers on two former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees, Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh, and their depositions in a lawsuit over cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Reporting describes a fast-moving push for grant terminations, staff reductions and contract cancellations. The record summarized publicly so far offers a narrow look at one agency and one dispute—not a complete account of how DOGE operated across the federal government.
What the headline refers to
Project On Government Oversight’s March 17, 2026 newsletter summarized a March 13 Mashable story about deposition videos of former DOGE employees Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh. The videos circulated in connection with litigation seeking to reverse NEH cuts. The newsletter says Fox struggled to define diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), but it does not provide a verbatim transcript of the deposition exchanges. That summary therefore supports the broad subject of the story, not a detailed account of everything Fox or Cavanaugh said.
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The distinction matters: this is not a reported interview series covering a broad roster of former DOGE employees. The available account focuses on testimony connected to a particular agency’s grant cuts and a lawsuit. The sources summarized here do not establish the current status of that case or whether the videos remain publicly available.
What reporting says happened at NEH
A rapid push for reductions
Nextgov/FCW reported that Fox and Cavanaugh met with acting NEH head Michael McDonald after President Trump had fired the agency’s previous head. According to that report, Steve Davis had sent the DOGE employees to make cuts. In an email quoted by Nextgov/FCW, Fox asked McDonald for a plan covering reductions in force, grant terminations and contract cancellations, and pressed for the work to be completed quickly.
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Nextgov/FCW also reported that NEH later issued termination letters for about 1,400 grants and layoff notices to 116 employees. Those are figures reported by the outlet; they should not be read as independently audited totals or as a court finding about whether the decisions were lawful.
The dispute and what the evidence can show
The POGO newsletter described the lawsuit as seeking to reverse the NEH cuts and said deposition videos of Fox and Cavanaugh had been released and circulated. The email and events described by Nextgov/FCW provide context for the agency’s actions, while the depositions are testimony arising from litigation. Neither, by itself, settles the legal questions in the case. No complete deposition transcript or verbatim Fox or Cavanaugh testimony is included in the accounts summarized here, so viral clip descriptions should not be treated as exact quotations.
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How much this one agency account tells us about DOGE
NEH is one case, not a reliable stand-in for every department. Other reporting describes different agencies, evidence and outcomes. The comparison below shows what each account can support without treating them as interchangeable.
| Account | Evidence and scope | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| NEH | Nextgov/FCW reporting on an email and subsequent agency actions; POGO’s summary of deposition videos | A reported push for grant, workforce and contract cuts, and the reported issuance of about 1,400 grant termination letters and 116 layoff notices. The available summaries do not supply full deposition transcripts or resolve the lawsuit. |
| Across federal agencies | WIRED’s 2025 oral history, based on interviews with more than 200 federal workers across dozens of agencies | A wide-ranging account of employee experiences, not a single agency’s official record or a complete measure of DOGE’s effects. |
| Social Security Administration | ProPublica’s September 2025 account, based on 15 hours of interviews with former acting commissioner Leland Dudek, interviews with more than 35 current or recently departed officials and staff, and documentary records | A detailed agency case study of DOGE’s involvement at SSA; it does not establish that other agencies experienced the same process. |
Reported leadership versus formal titles
ProPublica’s March 2025 reporting described uncertainty inside agencies about who was directing DOGE. The White House named Amy Gleason as acting administrator, while people interviewed by ProPublica described Steve Davis as appearing to run day-to-day operations. Those accounts distinguish a formal public title from reported operational influence; they are not a definitive organization chart.
The White House’s stated position, quoted in ProPublica’s DOGE tracker, was that those leading the effort with Elon Musk acted “in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities.” That is the administration’s position, not a judicial finding.
What the broader record says about speed, savings and workforce change
Efficiency claims are not the same as verified savings
The Washington Post’s February 24, 2025 report drew on meeting records and interviews with eight people familiar with DOGE’s work or Musk’s goals. It described efforts to obtain access to employment and funding databases, use technology to identify potential cuts, and move quickly. The Post reported that DOGE claimed $55 billion in contract savings about a month into its campaign. Its own analysis found hundreds of listed canceled-contract entries with $0 in savings.
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The claim and the Post’s analysis measure different things: one was DOGE’s announced savings figure, while the other examined entries in a list of canceled contracts. The analysis is not a final audit of DOGE’s total fiscal impact, and the $55 billion figure should not be presented as verified savings. A canceled contract’s listed value also does not, on its own, establish how much the government actually saves.
The Post also quoted an anonymous person familiar with Musk’s philosophy: “You should just cut,” the person said, describing the idea as cutting first and adding things back if something breaks. Because the speaker was anonymous and describing private conversations, that quote is an attributed account of a philosophy, not a named official policy document.
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Workforce forecasts need their date and scope
In August 2025, Office of Personnel Management director Scott Kupor forecast that the federal workforce would likely end the year about 300,000 employees smaller than at the start of 2025, with most resignations attributed to DOGE resignation incentives, according to WIRED. This was a forecast about overall federal headcount, not a final count of departures caused by DOGE. The figures here do not establish a final, independently verified DOGE-specific workforce total.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What former SSA chief Leland Dudek’s account adds
ProPublica’s September 2025 investigation offers a separate first-person agency case. Former acting Social Security commissioner Leland Dudek said he initially tried to collaborate with DOGE and later tried to protect the agency. He described the approach as “a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing, with ideas of how government should run — thinking it should work like a McDonald’s or a bank — screaming all the time.”
That is Dudek’s characterization, presented in an interview-based investigation that also drew on interviews with more than 35 current or recently departed SSA officials and staff and documentary records. It conveys one senior official’s experience at SSA; it should not be taken as a universal description of DOGE personnel or every agency’s interactions with them.
Quick Recap
How to read the evidence
- Separate testimony from reporting. A deposition is sworn testimony in a legal proceeding; a newsletter summary or news report about it is not a substitute for the complete transcript.
- Keep the agency and time period attached to each claim. The NEH episode concerns grants and staffing; the SSA account concerns Social Security operations; cross-agency interviews describe a broader but varied set of employee experiences.
- Distinguish actions from outcomes. A termination letter, layoff notice, canceled-contract entry or announced savings figure is not automatically proof of a final legal, staffing or budget result.
- Distinguish formal authority from reported influence. Public titles, employee accounts and descriptions of who directed day-to-day work are different kinds of evidence.
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