The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which U.S. President Donald Trump launched with great ambition, was quietly dismantled with eight months left in its originally scheduled term.
According to Reuters and other foreign media on the 23rd local time, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Trump administration has been officially disbanded. Scott Cooper, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Minister, said in a Reuters interview, when asked whether DOGE would continue, "It no longer exists." It was the first time a senior Trump administration official officially confirmed the end of DOGE.
DOGE was launched in January with the start of Trump's second term. At its launch, DOGE set goals to trim the size of the federal government, cut the budget, and reorganize bureaucracy to match Trump's priorities. Its early moves were unconventional. Elon Musk, Tesla chief executive officer (CEO), took the helm of DOGE, and he promoted DOGE's activities daily on X, the social media platform he acquired (formerly Twitter).
On Feb. in National Harbor, Maryland, Musk appeared on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) holding a chainsaw to promote DOGE. Lifting the chainsaw over his head, he shouted, "This is a chainsaw for bureaucracy," signaling a strong resolve to streamline bloated government agencies.
But unlike its noisy start, DOGE failed to gain real traction. Experts pointed out that among the expenditure cut items DOGE claimed, there was little measurable budget-saving effect.
DOGE's functions have now been absorbed by the existing bureaucratic body, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). According to Minister Cooper and Reuters, OPM has taken over most of DOGE's functions.
The federal hiring freeze has also been lifted. Upon taking office, President Trump banned new hires at all federal agencies except for immigration enforcement and public safety. Afterward, when exceptional hiring was necessary, DOGE approval was required, and a guideline was issued to fill only one vacancy for every four departures. But Minister Cooper said of the current situation, "There is no longer a reduction target."
Musk, who led DOGE, has kept his distance from politics since a public rift with President Trump in May. Since May, Trump has used the past tense when mentioning DOGE in official settings. DOGE officials said Trump set the DOGE activity deadline as July of next year early in his term, but in effect the dismantling process has been underway since around the summer.
DOGE officials who spearheaded government reform with Musk have scattered across the administration. Many of them moved into the very parts of the administration they sought to reform.
Joe Gebbia, Airbnb co-founder and a core member of the DOGE team, now leads the National Design Studio. The organization was newly created by an executive order Trump signed in Aug. It is tasked with improving the visibility of U.S. government websites. Trump instructed Gebbia to make government websites beautiful.
Jeremy Lewin, who helped Musk with the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is overseeing foreign aid at the State Department. In effect, outside experts who championed government efficiency ended up becoming civil servants and entering the bureaucracy.
The White House had little to say about the dismantling of DOGE. White House Spokesperson Liz Houston told Reuters, "President Trump is still working to fulfill his promise to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government."
In Washington political circles, the episode is being described as a "victory for bureaucracy." It means that an attempt to perform surgery on the civil service with an external shock therapy fizzled amid resistance from vested interests and a lack of concrete results.