November 24, 2025— U.S. President Donald Trump’s high-profile “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), once touted as a symbol of his administration’s push to shrink the federal government, has effectively been disbanded with eight months remaining in his term. Critics argue the initiative achieved little to no verifiable cost savings​ despite its bold promises.
Earlier this month, when asked about DOGE’s current status, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Cooper told Reuters: “It no longer exists.”
Cooper added that DOGE is no longer a centralized entity—marking the first official acknowledgment from the Trump administration of its dissolution.
Established in January 2025, DOGE initially took aggressive actions​ in Washington, including rapid downsizing of federal agencies, budget cuts, and redirecting agency priorities​ to align with Trump’s agenda. However, Cooper and internal documents reviewed by Reuters indicate that many of DOGE’s functions have since been absorbed by the OPM, which oversees federal human resources.
At least two former core DOGE staffers​ have since joined the “National Design Studio”, a new agency created by Trump via executive order in August 2025. The studio, led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, was tasked with redesigning government websites for better aesthetics—a far cry from DOGE’s original mission.
Gebbia was previously part of Elon Musk’s DOGE team, while another ex-DOGE member, Edward “Bold Edward” Christian, had encouraged his X (formerly Twitter) followers to apply for roles at the new studio.
DOGE’s quiet demise stands in stark contrast to its highly publicized launch, where Trump, his advisers, and cabinet members heavily promoted it on social media. Musk, who initially spearheaded DOGE, frequently used his X platform to tout its work—even brandishing a chainsaw​ as a symbolic gesture of his commitment to “cutting bureaucratic waste.”​
In February 2025, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, Musk dramatically held a chainsaw overhead, declaring: “This is the chainsaw we’re using to cut bureaucracy.”
Despite DOGE’s claims of saving hundreds of billions of dollars, independent financial experts were unable to verify the figure​ because the department never released detailed financial records​ of its operations.
White House spokeswoman Liz Houston​ told Reuters in an email: “President Trump remains firmly committed to his mission of reducing waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government—and he continues to pursue that goal aggressively.”