Asger Risom
A high-profile effort to shrink the federal government has quietly faded away, eight months before its charter was set to expire.
The once-hyped Department of Government Efficiency has quietly disappeared, eight months before its mandate was set to expire. But researchers and watchdogs say the consequences of its brief existence will linger far longer than the agency itself.
Sudden disappearance
Reuters recently confirmed that DOGE is no longer operating as a standalone body. “That doesn’t exist,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor said, explaining that its functions have been absorbed into the OPM. The abrupt dissolution ends an initiative Donald Trump launched with fanfare at the start of his second term, with Elon Musk leading the original team and touting its mission online.
For months, DOGE spearheaded rapid attempts to shrink the federal government, slash budgets and rewrite agency priorities. Its leaders boasted of dramatic savings, yet the unit never released detailed accounts of its work. A Senate review later challenged DOGE’s claims, arguing that billions had been wasted rather than saved.
A trail of damage
Outside analysts say the agency’s legacy reaches far beyond disputed budget math. According to reporting from the New Republic and other outlets, DOGE’s mass firings weakened essential services, from Social Security field offices to consumer watchdogs. Its dismantling of USAID, experts warn, could contribute to millions of deaths worldwide by 2030 due to disrupted humanitarian programs.
Data security also suffered. Whistleblowers alleged that DOGE uploaded sensitive records, including Social Security information, to vulnerable cloud systems, placing millions of Americans at risk.
Bobby Kogan of the Center for American Progress wrote that it is “difficult to overstate how profound a failure DOGE was,” arguing that the minimal cuts the department achieved “have already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.” Other commentators contend the agency fulfilled its true goal: not efficiency, but the quiet destruction of public institutions.
Shifting signals
Even before its official demise, Trump had begun referring to DOGE in the past tense. The hiring freeze the agency oversaw — once central to its mission — has ended. Nevertheless, several states have begun building their own DOGE-style entities, advancing similar goals at the local level.
Key figures from DOGE have also moved into influential government roles. The former team now occupies positions in the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Naval Research, the State Department and the Trump-created National Design Studio. Critics argue this embedding ensures DOGE’s influence will persist long after the brand has vanished.
A legacy unresolved
Some analysts say the project was doomed by unrealistic promises — including Musk’s claim that savings would fund $5,000 dividends for taxpayers. Others argue the agency’s impact was intentional: a sweeping attempt to hollow out federal capacity and capture sensitive data under the guise of reform.
As one observer put it, DOGE isn’t fading because it failed, but because “its goals were to destroy as much of government as possible.” Whether the administration can unwind the damage, or whether the effects will calcify into a new normal, remains an open question.
