What is going on with DOGE?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created to make changes to regulations, spending, and government structure. Where does it stand now?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is an organization established by the second Trump administration to evaluate and recommend changes to federal regulations, expenditures, and agency structures.
The start of DOGE
DOGE was created via executive order on January 20, 2025 — the first day of the second Trump presidency — with Elon Musk as its leader. The executive order reorganized the US Digital Service, an agency created in 2014 within the Executive Office of the President to improve digital services, into the US DOGE Service. It also established a temporary organization “dedicated to advancing the President’s 18-month DOGE agenda” until July 4, 2026.
The executive order also directed agencies to embed DOGE teams, at least four employees per agency, to implement DOGE’s agenda.
Over the ensuing months, agencies across the federal government — including the Departments of Agriculture and Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency — cited DOGE while announcing rounds of budget cuts. A second executive order directed the Office of Management and Budget to work with DOGE teams on a plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
Did Elon Musk leave DOGE?
On May 28, 2025, after around four months, Musk announced his departure from DOGE and the end of his “scheduled time as a Special Government Employee.”
Is DOGE still active?
Whether the DOGE organization still exists is less clear than one might expect. In November 2025, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor was quoted saying it “doesn’t exist,” before refuting the quote on social media. Kupor wrote that DOGE “may not have centralized leadership” but that “the principles of DOGE remain alive and well.”
The charter that established DOGE is still active until July 4, 2026, and DOGE continues to operate its website and social media accounts. Beyond that, there is little information available from official government sources.
How has DOGE impacted the federal budget?
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how much DOGE has moved the needle when it comes to government spending, largely because it’s hard to attribute specific funding decisions to the organization or its DOGE agenda.
The big picture shows that spending has remained at similar levels. According to USASpending.gov, average monthly federal spending in the year leading up to January 2025 was $443.1 billion. In October 2025, it was $442.9 billion, down .05%.
How has average monthly spending during the DOGE era measured up?
Average federal spending, May 2020–October 2025
How many government jobs has DOGE cut?
As with spending, it’s hard to specifically attribute government workforce cuts to DOGE, but the full- and part-time government workforce has decreased by about 3.2% from a recent peak of 3.1 million in January to 2.9 million in August.
Federal employment decreased 3.2% during the first seven months of Trump's second presidency.
Civilian federal government employees, January 2021 to August 2025
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