Trump Administration Decides to Disband DOGE

In a quiet move that marked the end of a chaotic era, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been disbanded. Created under the promise of rooting out federal waste and saving taxpayers a projected $1 trillion, the department's sudden collapse leaves behind a legacy defined not by efficiency, but by widespread service failure and devastating human costs, both at home and abroad. 

The Failure to Deliver on a Trillion-Dollar Promise

The Department of Government Efficiency, appointed to overhaul the federal budget, was abruptly terminated with eight months still left in its official charter. Office of Personal Management Director Scott Kupor stated that DOGE does not have “centralized leadership” and is no longer a “centralized entity.” However, he also suggested that DOGE’s "principles remain alive and well," but the facts paint a different picture. 

Musk’s highly publicized goal of cutting the deficit by a full $1 trillion was never achieved. While DOGE’s website claimed savings of $214 billion, multiple reports confirm that these numbers were either inflated, rewritten, or overstated to mask the project's profound failure. 

One of the biggest examples of this is that DOGE claims to have saved $32.7 billion in contract savings. However, a POLITICO analysis of DOGE's data revealed the actual savings were closer to $1.4 billion, less than 5% of the claimed savings. Scott Amey from the Project on Government Oversight stated that DOGE “may be more interested in inflating savings than in accurately reporting them."

Furthermore, perhaps the most tragic consequences of DOGE’s efficiency drive were the sudden cuts to agencies responsible for critical public services and global humanitarian aid, which directly harmed vulnerable citizens. Musk made sure to effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided  vaccines, prevented malaria, and combated HIV/AIDS worldwide. The cuts had immediate and deadly consequences: one study estimated that DOGE's actions have already resulted in more than 600,000 excess deaths globally.

DOGE has also gone after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that provides services to nearly 9 million veterans and employs thousands of veterans among its 500,000 strong staff. Cuts to the VA left many veterans without work and strained medical service, including life saving care.

The reckless elimination of federal workers also carried a massive economic penalty. At the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), deep staffing cuts severely hampered enforcement capabilities, with officials predicting a possible $500 billion loss in incoming tax revenue in just one year, as the reduced capacity allowed more tax evasion. Donald Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, observed that DOGE prioritized the aggressive cost-cutting of private executives over improving services. He stated that the department "has made the quality of some government services worse" and that the overall effort was nothing more than “burning down government capability.”

Musk's abrasive style and lack of respect for established government procedures fueled the chaos. His team rapidly executed mass firings and required federal employees—including veterans—to justify their jobs over email, often with unrealistic deadlines.

This controversial directive provoked outrage across the civil service. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), spoke out forcefully against the billionaire’s management: “It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire.”

The Trump administration had to scale back on DOGE’s cuts after Musk left. The General Services Administration (GSA) had to reinstate nearly 400 employees after DOGE slashed around 79% of the agency's workforce. Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official, summed up the situation: "Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed."

The end of DOGE, which saw dozens of key staffers follow Musk out the door after his contract expired, confirmed that the effort was always driven by his personality and specific vision, not sustainable government reform. The final result and legacy of DOGE will not be of savings but of  federal workers being laid off, services to veterans being cut, and children around the world left to suffer.