The Trump administration has disbanded the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a controversial team of federal cost-cutters previously led by Elon Musk, despite months left of the unit’s mandate.
Reuters first reported this weekend that DOGE had broken up, ending the months-long effort by Musk and his associates — many recruited from his various private-sector companies — to reduce alleged fraud and waste and cut employees across the federal government. DOGE was created by an executive order signed by President Trump in January. The initiative was expected to run for close to two years.
As of early November, DOGE “doesn’t exist,” according to Scott Kupor, the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which serves as the federal government’s human resources department.
In a tweet on Sunday, Kupor said that DOGE “may not have centralized leadership” anymore under the U.S. Digital Service, but “the principles of DOGE remain alive and well: de-regulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; re-shaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first-class citizen.”
While active, DOGE claimed to have saved the federal government billions of dollars in wasted taxpayer dollars. But critics, including lawmakers, say DOGE dismantled federal programs and government departments with little to show in terms of quantifiable savings.
DOGE’s cuts have also been blamed for countless deaths across the world following the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which provided humanitarian aid and disaster relief. DOGE also accessed federal databases containing highly sensitive personal information belonging to millions of Americans, and was accused of security lapses that put that data at risk from malicious adversaries.
Musk departed DOGE earlier this year after a public falling out with President Trump.
According to Politico, several DOGE staffers are said to be fearful that they could face future federal charges without protections from Musk, who might have been able to secure presidential pardons for them if necessary.
Several DOGE staffers are now working for other U.S. federal government departments, according to Reuters, while other prominent DOGE staffers have said they no longer work for the government. Edward Coristine, whose nickname “Big Balls” went viral, said in a post on X in June that he is “officially out” of DOGE.
