Trump Scraps Government Efficiency Department, DOGE, Months Ahead of Schedule

The Trump administration has quietly dismantled the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a flagship cost-cutting initiative created to streamline federal operations — nearly eight months before its original mandate was set to expire. The move effectively ends one of the most controversial and high-profile bureaucratic experiments of Donald Trump’s presidency, one that had been closely associated with tech billionaire Elon Musk.

DOGE was established on January 20, 2025, with a mission to eliminate wasteful spending, cut redundant federal programs, and drive Silicon Valley–style efficiency across government agencies.

Musk, appointed as a special government employee, was a driving force behind DOGE’s ambitious and often aggressive cost-reduction agenda, including large-scale workforce cuts and restructuring efforts across multiple departments.

However, according to recent disclosures by federal officials, the department has now been dissolved as a standalone entity. Its remaining functions have been absorbed into the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), effectively ending DOGE’s operations long before the July 2026 expiration set in its executive order.

There was no public announcement of the closure, with the first confirmation emerging through OPM Director Scott Kupor, who noted that DOGE “doesn’t exist anymore.”

DOGE’s website had claimed tens of billions of dollars in savings through cancelled contracts and reorganized operations, but independent analysts and watchdog groups say these figures lacked transparency and verifiable accounting.

Critics argue that many of the purported savings were based on maximum contract values rather than actual expenditures, raising questions about the accuracy of the department’s self-reported achievements.

The department’s rapid rise and abrupt dissolution were accompanied by controversy.

Legal experts raised red flags over DOGE’s intervention in agencies such as USAID, where some cost-cutting moves were deemed potentially unlawful. Others criticized DOGE’s opaque structure, limited public oversight, and its role in what became one of the largest waves of federal job reductions in decades.

The shutdown also follows months of reported tensions between Trump and Musk over budget priorities and the pace of reforms.

With DOGE now effectively shuttered, its personnel have either migrated to other federal roles or transitioned into adjacent initiatives such as the administration’s National Design Studio.

While the department is gone, analysts say its influence may continue through the OPM, which is now expected to carry forward parts of its efficiency agenda with a more conventional administrative approach.

Still, the early termination of DOGE marks a significant retreat from one of the administration’s most ambitious attempts to radically reshape federal bureaucracy.