Elon Musk’s time as the defining figure of President Donald Trump‘s second administration may be coming to an end, but the impact of his agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), lives on.
Musk entered government with the goal of cutting 13 figures off the federal budget in savings, and five months onward, Newsweek has crunched the numbers to see if he succeeded.
Why It Matters
Created through an executive order upon Trump’s return to office in January, DOGE, according to the White House, was tasked with reducing workforce size and eliminating inefficiencies, and above all, saving money. Musk pitched the idea long before Trump won the election, and it was his top priority after the November victory, so much so that his companies, like Tesla and SpaceX, suffered as a result.
Musk’s Claim
In October, before Trump’s election win, Musk predicted that the maximum total that he might be able to cut from the federal budget was around $2 trillion, which is roughly a third of the entire budget.
“We’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s like the best-case outcome,” he said. “I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one.”
Musk later clarified that any savings of over $1 trillion would be “an epic outcome,” and described the government as a “target-rich environment for saving money.”
DOGE’s Savings
Shortly after Trump’s reentry to the White House, DOGE created a tracker site for its savings, with an official leaderboard for “agency efficiency,” and a running total of the money saved by the department.
As of May, DOGE says, it has saved $170 billion in federal spending. This amounts to 17 percent of the $1 trillion goal, and 8.5 percent of Musk’s $2 trillion “best-case outcome.”
The largest individual cut listed on DOGE’s site is from the Department of the Interior, which canceled a $3.3 billion program that would have funded a facility for the Office of Refugee Resettlement Influx Care.
The second largest cut, from the Department of Homeland Security, was for facilities in Texas and California, worth just over $3 billion. Outside of the eight largest cuts made by DOGE that are listed in their files, none exceed $1 billion.
The site has come under criticism for not properly displaying the agency’s actions. It includes many contracts on the list of savings that had already been canceled before DOGE entered the White House, and in one instance, an $8 million saving had been entered as an $8 billion one instead, according to Reuters.
On top of the spending cuts, DOGE has also deactivated half a million federal credit cards, used by government staff to make purchases on behalf of agencies. The DOGE audit dismantled a tenth of all cards used in the government, and the agency has indicated more could be axed in the future.
What People Are Saying
Musk said that “We’re talking about almost $200bn and rising fast,” when asked about the total savings made by DOGE for 2025.
He also said that he would be reducing the amount he spends on political donations in the coming months: “I’m going to do a lot less in the future. I think I’ve done enough.”
“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
What Happens Next
Musk has said that he has “done enough,” and that he will step away from being the public face of DOGE. He has already been appearing less at Trump’s side in recent weeks. Musk also told Tesla investors that he was putting more focus toward the electric car company, rather than his political work.
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