The previously Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded eight months ahead of schedule, ending President Donald Trump’s sweeping initiative to slash the size and spending of the federal government. According to a new report from Reuters, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “doesn’t exist” and is no longer a “centralized entity” despite Trump, 79, signing an executive order earlier in his term announcing that DOGE would last through July 2026. DOGE made an unprecedented effort to rapidly reshape the government by making cuts to federal staffing, as Trump stated that the agency’s goal was to form “a smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy.” According to Kupor and documents reviewed by Reuters, the OPM, the federal government’s human resources office, has since taken over many of DOGE’s functions. Since the beginning of Trump’s second term until May, Musk, 54, served as a White House adviser heading DOGE and worked to make major cuts to areas of the government that the administration deemed unnecessary. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. DOGE was formerly known as the United States Digital Service (USDS) before it was renamed during Trump’s second administration. It was created by former President Barack Obama’s administration “to change our government’s approach to technology,” per the official site. The organization claimed to have cut tens of billions of dollars in expenditures from the federal government, but no outside sources ever verified the claims, as DOGE did not provide detailed public accounting of its work. “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” Musk said in February, holding a chainsaw above his head at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, as he spoke about DOGE. “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,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Reuters. Another hallmark of DOGE was its mission to freeze and reduce government hiring as Trump said in his first day back in office that he would bar federal agencies from bringing on new employees, with some exceptions for immigration and public safety agencies. Kupor, however, told Reuters that “there is no target around reductions” anymore. In February, more than 20 civil service employees resigned from DOGE, refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services” in a joint resignation letter obtained by PEOPLE. The 21 employees, consisting of engineers, data scientists, designers and product managers, issued the resignation letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. “We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” they wrote. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.” Musk announced he was departing from his government role as a top adviser to DOGE on May 28 in an X post. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he wrote at the time. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” Musk’s departure came just one day after he criticized Trump’s budget legislation agenda, explaining that he is “disappointed” in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” The bill, which was passed in the House of Representatives on May 22, is funding its tax cuts and military spending in part by cutting some federal health and energy programs. However, it was poised to add an estimated $3. 8 trillion to the national deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
https://people.com/elon-musk-cost-saving-project-doge-for-trump-administration-quietly-ends-ahead-of-schedule-11855402
