A newly launched government website, Waste.gov, was quietly locked down after reports revealed that it was nothing more than an unfinished WordPress template.
The site, registered by the Trump administration, was meant to track government waste. However, an archived version showed placeholder text promoting a fictional architecture firm instead.
The site’s tagline, “Tracking government waste,” is still visible, even though the site is taken down. Another website, DEI.gov, also redirected to the same URL. But beyond that, most of the content was generic filler text from WordPress’s Twenty Twenty-Four theme, which is publicly available as a demo. Instead of exposing wasteful government spending, the site bizarrely promoted a made-up firm called Études, claiming it was revolutionizing architecture with “creativity and functionality.”
The timing of this blunder is awkward for Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—an initiative tasked with cutting federal spending and gaining access to government systems. Musk has repeatedly emphasized transparency, telling reporters from the Oval Office on Tuesday, “We actually are trying to be as transparent as possible.” He pointed to DOGE’s official website and its X (formerly Twitter) handle as sources for updates. But much like Waste.gov, the DOGE website contains little more than a vague tagline: “The people voted for major reform.”
While Musk hasn’t publicly acknowledged the botched website, Reuters reported that Waste.gov was created just last week. Before it was locked behind a password wall, it seemed to contradict some of Trump’s recent executive orders, particularly those aimed at eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from government agencies. Ironically, the WordPress placeholder text on the site boasted about serving a “diverse clientele.”
