he gets paid for the contracts he already has and for new ones (billions in corporate welfare). some government agencies tried to investigate his companies and contracts (which would cause a loss of handouts from the government), so he bought his way into the government and fired everybody who was investigating his companies.

does that help?

So then he is not getting paid for DOGE. Glad we cleared that up between us.

that's a cartoon level understanding of the world. thieves don't always wear a Zorro eye mask and carry a burlap sack with a dollar sign.