DOGE’s Quiet End: Musk’s Efficiency Department Is Now Gone
The days of DOGE are over. While the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dominated the headlines of the early days of President Donald Trump's second term, the Elon Musk-led agency has quietly slipped away. What happened to DOGE, and should Americans expect it to appear again? Read on for the latest details.
Government Official Confirms Demise of DOGE
With eight months remaining on its charter, the federal government has finally recognized that DOGE is a thing of the past. According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor, DOGE "doesn't exist" any longer. The pet project of Tesla CEO Musk has disbanded with eight months left on its mandate.
DOGE stirred up controversy when it was initially launched in January in an effort to reduce the size of the government, cut budgets, and redirect work to areas important to the Trump administration. Critics of the Trump administration and the agency say that it did not produce significant savings.
Kupor was the first member of the Trump administration to comment publicly about the demise of DOGE. According to Kupor, the OPM has assumed many of the functions originally assigned to Trump.
Documents procured by media agency Reuters indicate that at least two instrumental DOGE employees are now working with the National Design Studio, a new agency created by the president through an executive order in August. Headed up by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, the National Design Studio has been charged with improving the look of the government's official websites. Gebbia was also a key member of Musk's DOGE team.
The gradual demise of DOGE is curious when compared to how much the Trump administration drew attention to it during the early days of the term. With Musk as the spokesperson, DOGE was continually put in the spotlight by both Trump supporters and his critics. For example, although DOGE officials claimed that it cut billions of dollars in spending, financial experts were not able to verify these claims due to the secrecy of the numbers.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston continues to defend the administration's decision to be intentional about reducing waste and fraud. Huston told Reuters that the president came into office with a clear mandate to clean up the federal government.
Up until Kupor's recent confirmation that DOGE no longer exists, Trump administration officials have not been explicit about its demise. However, members of Trump's team have hinted that the agency has been done since last summer, despite the president signing an executive order noting that DOGE would operate through July of 2026.
Looking at the Legacy of the Short-Lived Department of Government Efficiency
DOGE's legacy will be felt for quite some time. A handful of red states, including Idaho and Florida, are creating similar agencies to work on the local level to reduce government waste.
One of DOGE's lasting impacts came in the form of a government-wide hiring freeze. On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump barred federal agencies from hiring new employees. The exceptions to this mandate were positions reporting directly to Trump's team and those involved in immigration enforcement and public safety. Kupor also recently confirmed that this freeze has been lifted.
As noted earlier, several of the most prominent DOGE employees have moved into other roles within the government. In addition to Gebbia's new role with the National Design Studio, Zachary Terrell is now working as the chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Rachel Riley is currently working as the chief of the Office of Naval Research. Jeremy Lewin is overseeing foreign assistance within the U.S. State Department.
Acting DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason officially came on board the HHS in March, serving as an adviser to HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy. While a court filing indicates that she was going to stay on with her role at DOGE, all of her public statements have catered to her position with HHS.
The relationship between Trump and Musk deteriorated quickly in public view last spring. While the two played out their dispute online for everyone to see, Musk recently appeared in the nation's capital by Trump's side. Just last week, he was a guest at a White House dinner held in honor of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
As loud as DOGE was when it entered the political landscape of the nation's capital, its exit has been equally as quiet.
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