The Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), the Elon Musk-led agency created by Donald Trump to slash federal spending, has been quietly dissolved with eight months remaining on its contract, according to a statement by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
OPM director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month that Doge 'doesn't exist' and is no longer a 'centralized entity', confirming longstanding suspicions that the agency was on its way out. Doge was established by executive order on Trump's first day in office, with Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tasked with driving 'large scale structural reform' through July 2026.
The dissolution follows a turbulent period marked by an online feud between Trump and Musk, and growing concerns among former employees about potential criminal repercussions for their role in cutting government programmes and jobs. By May, more than 200,000 federal workers had been laid off and 75,000 had accepted buyouts. Doge claimed these cuts saved billions, but experts could not verify the figures due to a lack of public accounting.
Reports emerged in June that Doge staffers had packed up their belongings at the department's headquarters, where they had been sleeping since February, and sought new homes. Many key players have since moved into other government roles: acting administrator Amy Gleason became an adviser to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Zachary Terrell took up a post as chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Rachel Riley became chief of the Office of Naval Research. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia was tasked with beautifying government websites.
Trump administration officials have not publicly commented on Doge's demise, but Trump has been known to speak about the agency in the past tense, and Musk officially left Washington in May. Documents revealed by Reuters show that the OPM has taken over many of Doge's former responsibilities.
