Trump administration quietly shuts down DOGE after eight months

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency — better known as DOGE — has been dissolved just eight months after its launch, ending one of the White House’s most public attempts to shrink the federal bureaucracy.

Reuters first reported the advisory agency’s demise on Monday, noting that the administration ended the initiative months earlier than the executive order establishing it had planned. When President Donald Trump unveiled DOGE in January and tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the program, the effort was expected to continue into the following summer.

Instead, the office appears to have been phased out gradually and with little public acknowledgement.

‘That doesn’t exist’

When Reuters asked Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), about DOGE’s current status, he replied, “That doesn’t exist.” In the administration’s first public confirmation that the office had been shuttered, Kupor added that DOGE was no longer a “centralized entity.”

According to Kupor and documents reviewed by Reuters, OPM — the federal government’s human resources agency — has since absorbed functions once managed by DOGE.

Ambitious Goals, Modest Savings

DOGE was created to reduce the size and cost of the federal government, and it moved rapidly to shrink the federal workforce while redirecting resources toward Trump’s top policy priorities. But analysts questioned whether the initiative delivered on its promises.

Politico found that DOGE’s budget cuts amounted to just 5% of the billions in savings the administration claimed, much of it attributed to canceling thousands of federal contracts. Critics argued that the agency eliminated positions faster than it produced measurable savings.

Where Former DOGE Staff Landed

Even with the program’s demise, several of DOGE’s former staff members have reappeared in other corners of the administration.

Reuters reports that at least two high-profile former DOGE employees now work with the National Design Studio, a new government entity Trump created in August. Led by Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia, the group is tasked with improving the design and functionality of government websites. Gebbia previously worked with Musk’s DOGE team.

Another staffer, Edward Coristine — known online as “Big Balls” and a vocal promoter of DOGE recruitment — has also joined the National Design Studio.

Other DOGE alumni have moved into roles across the federal government. Jeremy Lewin, who played a key part in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), now oversees foreign aid programs at the State Department.

Musk and Trump Once Touted DOGE

Throughout the spring, Musk publicly championed DOGE’s work on his X social media platform. In a highly publicized appearance at February’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he took the stage wielding a chainsaw to symbolize cutting through bureaucracy. “This chainsaw for bureaucracy,” he said at the event in National Harbor, Maryland.

The Trump White House has continued to defend the program’s goals even as the initiative itself has dissolved.

“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,” a spokesperson told Reuters.

Hiring Freeze Ends

Kupor also confirmed that a government-wide hiring freeze — one of DOGE’s defining policies — is now over.

Under Trump’s earlier directive, federal agencies could not hire new employees except for immigration enforcement and public safety roles. Later, agencies seeking additional exceptions were required to obtain DOGE approval and to commit to hiring “no more than one employee for every four” who left.

With DOGE gone, those limits have been lifted. “There is no target around reductions” any longer, Kupor told Reuters.

Why the Agency Ended Remains Unclear

The administration has not offered an explanation for why DOGE ended ahead of schedule. Several Republican-led states have launched their own DOGE-inspired efforts aimed at streamlining state governments, suggesting the brand still holds political appeal even as the federal initiative fades.

The White House continues to pursue regulatory cuts and deregulatory actions that it views as key to economic growth.

Meanwhile, Musk — who had a public falling-out with Trump earlier this year — was recently seen in Washington, D.C., attending a White House dinner for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

With DOGE now defunct, the administration appears focused on broader structural reforms rather than the centralized, highly publicized efficiency drive that marked its early months.