The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, created to streamline federal agencies and cut government waste, has officially ceased to exist eight months ahead of schedule, U.S. officials told Reuters. DOGE, launched in January during Trump’s second term with high-profile fanfare and promoted heavily by Elon Musk on social media, was meant to symbolize the administration’s push to shrink government operations. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor confirmed to Reuters that DOGE is no longer a centralized entity, and many of its responsibilities have been absorbed by existing federal offices. While Trump and his team touted DOGE’s efforts to cut tens of billions in expenditures, external verification of these claims has been limited due to the unit’s lack of public accounting.
Several former DOGE employees have moved into new roles within the administration. Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and a former DOGE team member, now leads the National Design Studio, an office tasked with improving the visual presentation of government websites. Other staff have taken senior positions in agencies including Health and Human Services, the Office of Naval Research, and the State Department. Musk, who initially led DOGE and frequently promoted its work on X, has left Washington but continues to appear at high-profile events, including a recent White House dinner attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
DOGE’s closure contrasts sharply with the administration’s early efforts to draw attention to the unit. Musk famously brandished a chainsaw at a Conservative Political Action Conference to symbolize the project’s mission to cut bureaucracy. Trump’s executive orders had set DOGE to operate through July 2026, but public signals over the past months indicated its fading relevance, including the winding down of government-wide hiring freezes and shifting staff to other departments. Republican-led states, including Idaho and Florida, have launched similar efficiency offices at the local level, while federal officials continue to pursue regulatory cuts using AI-driven initiatives originally developed under DOGE.
