The Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting initiative led by billionaire
Elon Musk that dominated the early months of President Donald Trump's second term, has been shut down with eight months remaining on its charter, according to Reuters, in what appears to be the administration's ultimate cost-saving measure.
"That doesn't exist," Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters when asked about DOGE's status, confirming it is no longer a "centralised entity." The OPM has since absorbed many of DOGE's functions, marking the end of an agency that promised sweeping government reform but delivered questionable results.
From chainsaws to silence: DOGE's brief tenure
Created in January through executive order, DOGE was expected to operate through July 2026. The agency made dramatic efforts to shrink federal agencies, cut budgets, and redirect work to Trump priorities in its early months. Elon Musk, who initially led the department, regularly promoted its work on social media and famously brandished a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, declaring it "the chainsaw for bureaucracy."
DOGE claimed to have slashed tens of billions of dollars in expenditures, but outside financial experts found it impossible to verify these claims because the unit never provided detailed public accounting. The agency's website still claims approximately $214 billion in savings, though a Politico review found the numbers were inflated by counting maximum possible contract values rather than actual spending reductions.
DOGE staff scattered across government as agency dissolves
The shut down follows Musk's public feud with Trump in May, after which Musk left Washington and exited DOGE. Musk's "right-hand man," Steve Davis, also departed shortly after his boss's exit.
By May, more than 200,000 federal workers had been laid off and roughly 75,000 had accepted buyouts.
Former DOGE employees have moved to new positions throughout the administration. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia now heads Trump's National Design Studio, tasked with beautifying government websites. So far, his design studio has launched websites to recruit law enforcement officers to patrol Washington, D.C., and advertise the president's drug pricing program.
Edward Coristine, a DOGE employee nicknamed "Big Balls," has also joined Gebbia's National Design Studio effort, encouraging his followers on X to apply to the new body.
Acting DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason formally became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March, according to court filings, with her public statements largely focused on her HHS role. Zachary Terrell, part of the DOGE team given access to government health systems early in Trump's second term, is now chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, while Rachel Riley, who had similar access, now serves as chief of the Office of Naval Research.
Jeremy Lewin, who helped Musk dismantle the US Agency for International Development, now oversees foreign assistance at the State Department. Scott Langmack, DOGE's representative at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been tasked by the White House budget office with creating custom AI applications to analyze US regulations and determine which ones to eliminate, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The government-wide hiring freeze, another hallmark of DOGE, has also ended, with Kupor stating there is no longer a target for workforce reductions.
Spokeswoman Liz Huston told Reuters only that Trump "continues to actively deliver" on reducing waste and fraud. Trump himself has begun referring to DOGE in the past tense in recent statements to reporters, subtly signaling its demise without formal acknowledgment.
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