The Department of Government Efficiency ends today after 18 months of cuts that reshaped the federal workforce, with DOGE claiming $215 billion in savings even as more than 260,000 federal workers left their jobs.
Trump’s January 20, 2025 executive order established DOGE with a July 4, 2026 sunset date. “A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift” to America on its semiquincentennial birthday, the president said when announcing the commission. The department of government efficiency was led initially by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy before Musk departed in May 2025.
DOGE claims it saved $215 billion, or $1,335.40 per taxpayer, with its cuts, which included slashing duplicative software licenses, canceling diversity, equity and inclusion grants, and ending leases for underused office space, according to E&E News reporting from July 2. That represents a fraction of the federal budget, which is now about $7 trillion each year.
The workforce impact proved substantial. More than 260,000 workers left federal service due to Trump administration initiatives in 2025, according to the Office of Management and Budget data cited by Federal News Network on March 27, 2026. Close to 140,000 federal employees had opted into a “deferred resignation” program announced in January 2025, which allowed workers to leave public service later in the year, according to data from May compiled by the Office of Personnel Management.
Mixed Results and Early Departure
Despite its aggressive mandate, DOGE disbanded informally months before its scheduled end. In November 2025, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Reuters that DOGE “doesn’t exist” — eight months ahead of its July 2026 deadline. Musk and his core team had already left Washington by then, with Musk departing on May 30, 2025, along with lieutenant Steve Davis, top adviser Katie Miller, and general counsel James Burnham, according to Wikipedia reporting on the department.
The administration will not conduct a closing review of DOGE’s work. “We have no plans to do kind of a closing DOGE report,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said at a hearing on July 1, 2026, according to Federal News Network. The White House budget proposal released in April sought $35 million for the U.S. DOGE Service, but Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) noticed in the request that “DOGE was pretty much eliminated,” the E&E News article reported.
Harvard Kennedy School public policy professor Elizabeth Linos said DOGE failed to deliver on its core promise. “DOGE told the American people that they can’t trust government to protect their data, to use their data and technology for good,” Linos said in the E&E News report. “That has really long-lasting effects on our ability to rebuild trust in government or even convince the next generation of talent to enter government to begin with.”
National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald said the cuts weakened agencies and drove out staff. “DOGE never proved its claims of savings or widespread waste, fraud, or abuse,” Greenwald said in a statement cited in the E&E News article. “It only caused chaos, disrupted lives, and made government work worse for the people it serves.”
The spirit of DOGE’s cost-cutting mission has embedded itself elsewhere in the administration. Several prominent DOGE figures moved to the National Design Studio, another temporary organization established under a separate Trump order, to redesign government websites and digital services. That includes Joe Gebbia, the billionaire co-founder of Airbnb, who serves as its chief design officer.
Sources
- E&E News by POLITICO — DOGE’s charter expiration on July 4, 2026, claimed savings of $215 billion, Musk and team departure timeline, and expert commentary from Elizabeth Linos.
- Federal News Network — OMB Director Russ Vought statement on no closing DOGE report; federal workforce data showing 260,000+ workers left in 2025.
- Reuters — OPM Director Scott Kupor statement that DOGE “doesn’t exist” in November 2025.
- The White House — January 20, 2025 executive order establishing DOGE with July 4, 2026 termination date and 18-month mandate.
- Office of Personnel Management — Data on federal employee separations and “deferred resignation” program participation.
- Wikipedia — Timeline of Musk and core team departure in May 2025.
