600K–800K deaths from USAID cuts
Harvard doctor Atul Gawande cited estimates of 600,000 to 800,000 deaths attributable to DOGE's cuts to USAID programs.
Snapshot · The Rest Is Politics: US
202. Is Trump Rigging the World Cup?
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Jul 6, 2026
Where this was said
DOGE's End: $2 Trillion Promise, $215 Billion Delivered
At 30:51 · chapter starts 28:30
Scaramucci pivots to DOGE, noting that its July 4th end date passed almost without comment — even Kay had forgotten it was happening. The DOGE website claims roughly $215 billion in savings through job cuts and contract cancellations, but Kay immediately flags that even this number is widely disputed and represents a drop in the ocean against a $7 trillion federal budget. [1] — Katty Kay "DOGE did real damage in one place: USAID. Harvard doctor Atul Gawande estimates 600,000 to 800,000 people have died as a result of the fore…" 30:20 The real damage, both hosts agree, was done to USAID: Scaramucci estimates 800,000 people have died as a result of gutted foreign aid programmes; Kay cites Harvard's Atul Gawande putting the range at 600,000 to 800,000. The USAID budget was not large to begin with, which makes the death toll even more confronting. Scaramucci then gives a structural explanation for why the $2 trillion goal was always fantasy: the government's budget is no longer subject to a formal annual process — continuing resolutions have replaced real budgets since around 2011, baking in automatic 3–7% departmental increases with no accountability and no way to challenge them without political martyrdom.
DOGE target: $2 trillion savings
DOGE promised $2 trillion in government savings but ultimately fell dramatically short of that figure by its July 4th 2026 end date.
DOGE claimed $215B in savings
The DOGE website claimed approximately $215 billion saved through job cuts and contract cancellations, far short of the $2 trillion target.
600,000–800,000 Deaths from USAID Cuts
DOGE did real damage in one place: USAID. Harvard doctor Atul Gawande estimates 600,000 to 800,000 people have died as a result of the foreign aid cuts. The USAID budget wasn't large to begin with, which makes that death toll even more chilling.
Why DOGE Was Always Going to Fail
The structural reason DOGE failed: mandatory entitlements and defence spending are untouchable politically, and without pay-as-you-go guardrails there is no accountability mechanism. Scaramucci explains that fixing a runaway government requires decades of bipartisan consensus, not a chainsawing billionaire on a stage.
Spending Without Accountability: How the US Budget Became a Runaway Train
The US no longer passes an actual budget. Congress and the president rely on continuing resolutions that automatically increase departmental spending by 3–7% every year with no accountability. Scaramucci traces this to the collapse of the formal budget process under Obama and Paul Ryan in 2011.
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