Trump's DOGE experiment fades as Washington efficiency drive unravels

U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has quietly faded out with eight months left on its mandate, as its powers are absorbed into the federal bureaucracy and critics question whether it ever produced real savings.

For much of Trump's second term, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was marketed as the sharp edge of his promise to shrink the state. Elon Musk brandished a chainsaw on stage, Trump officials hyped sweeping cuts, and the new unit was held up as proof that Washington could be forced onto a diet.

Less than two years later, the department has slipped out of existence.

"That doesn't exist," Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told reporters this month when asked about DOGE. He said it was no longer a centralised entity and confirmed that the OPM, the federal government's human resources office, has taken over many of its functions.

The shift marks a quiet end to an initiative Trump had locked in by executive order until July 2026. The order said DOGE would have a government wide role for the duration, but in practice its authority has been diluted and redistributed months early.

Created in January, DOGE spent its first months charging through federal agencies, ordering hiring freezes, pushing budget cuts and trying to redirect departments toward Trump priorities. Officials described staff turning up at ministries with sweeping powers to approve or block recruitment and restructuring.

DOGE claimed to have cut tens of billions of dollars in federal expenditure. Yet outside budget specialists were never given the detail needed to verify those figures. There was no comprehensive public breakdown of what had been cut, where the savings fell, or how they compared with normal budget churn.

The political messaging, however, was relentless. Trump, his advisers and cabinet members posted repeatedly about DOGE on social media. Musk, who initially led the effort, used his X platform to celebrate job cuts and posted videos of himself hoisting a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland earlier this year.

"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," he told activists, presenting DOGE as the vehicle for tearing up regulations, automating government with artificial intelligence (AI) and eliminating federal jobs.

Inside the administration, the tone has shifted. Officials rarely talk about DOGE in the present tense and its senior figures are taking on new roles elsewhere in government. Acting DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason, whose background is in healthcare technology, formally became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, while still nominally linked to DOGE. Her public focus is now almost entirely on health.

The government wide hiring freeze that became one of DOGE's most visible tools is also over. On his first day back in the White House, Trump had barred agencies from hiring, with limited exceptions for roles tied to immigration enforcement or public safety. DOGE representatives were later given a veto on other positions and pushed a target of hiring no more than one employee for every four who left.

"There is no target around reductions anymore," Kupor said, underlining how that hard cap has been dropped even as the administration insists it is still tackling waste.

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said Trump remained committed to the broader objective, describing his mandate as reducing waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government.

"He continues to actively deliver on that commitment," she said in an email response to questions.

Behind the scenes, former DOGE staff are reappearing as key players in other parts of the administration. At least two prominent alumni have joined the National Design Studio, a new body created by executive order in August and headed by Airbnb co founder Joe Gebbia. Trump has tasked Gebbia with improving the visual presentation of government websites.

The design studio has already built recruitment sites for law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C., and online platforms to promote Trump's drug pricing programme. Gebbia declined to be interviewed, according to a spokesperson.

Other DOGE veterans have moved into powerful operational roles. Zachary Terrell, who was part of the DOGE team that gained access to government health systems early in Trump's second term, is now chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel Riley, who according to court filings had similar access, is listed as chief of the Office of Naval Research. Jeremy Lewin, who helped Musk and Trump dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, now oversees foreign assistance at the State Department.

Even as DOGE dissolves, the administration is pressing ahead with parts of its deregulatory agenda. Musk had framed one of his core missions as deleting a "mountain" of government regulations. The White House budget office has now asked Scott Langmack, a former DOGE representative at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to develop AI tools that scan U.S. regulations and flag candidates for elimination, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Beyond Washington, Republican led states such as Idaho and Florida are experimenting with their own local versions of DOGE, hoping to replicate at state level what Trump promised in the federal government.

For critics, the story of DOGE is less about lasting savings and more about spectacle. The unit arrived with chainsaws, slogans and sweeping vows to cut government down to size. It is now disappearing via procedural shifts and personnel moves, its name fading while its former staff settle into influential positions across the Trump administration.

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