Less than a year after Elon Musk took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, brandishing a bedazzled chainsaw to showcase the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting spree, the most significant cut was the agency itself.
Donald Trump’s DOGE disbanded eight months earlier than scheduled, Reuters first reported on Sunday.
“That doesn’t exist,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told the outlet when asked about DOGE. “There is no target around reductions,” he added.
The first few months of Trump’s second term were dominated by DOGE, the agency headed by Musk with a mandate to aggressively downsize the federal workforce and slash government spending. But the failed agency seems to have accomplished little beyond sowing chaos.
Tens of thousands of federal employees fired under Musk’s leadership were offered their jobs back in September after what amounted to monthslong paid vacations. Millions were reportedly lost in interest and fees after government projects were frozen, and some woefully underqualified DOGE staffers were reportedly pocketing six-figure salaries.
The Tesla billionaire ultimately presided over a $220 billion increase in federal spending this fiscal year, excluding interest, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.
Additionally, the agency generated some $21.7 billion in waste across the federal government in the first six months of the year, according to a July report from the minority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI).
Musk left DOGE four months after its creation, after his status as a special government employee ended in late May. Shortly after, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill revealed deep policy disagreements between the two, culminating in personal attacks. It came to a head with Trump threatening the SpaceX founder’s government contracts and Musk firing back by claiming Trump’s name appeared in the so-called “Epstein files.”
Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles are reportedly attempting to repair the fractured bromance between the president and the world’s richest man.
Many DOGE staffers are getting second chances of their own, too. While Trump has referred to the agency in the past tense, many of DOGE’s most notable figures have quietly been moved to other federal agencies.
DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, Reuters reported. Joe Gebbia, who co-founded Airbnb, now presides over Trump’s newly created National Design Studio, tasked with “beautifying” government websites.
And notably, infamous 19-year-old DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine resigned from the agency in the summer and began working at the Social Security Administration.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. In a statement to Reuters, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston wrote: “President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment.”
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