The ambitious government efficiency project that Elon Musk once called his “chainsaw for bureaucracy” has quietly fallen apart, leaving behind scattered pieces and unfulfilled promises. The Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, officially collapsed in late 2025 when Musk’s growing feud with Trump reached a breaking point over spending bills and policy disagreements.
Trump created DOGE through executive order on January 20, 2025, based on Musk’s 2024 suggestion to modernize federal technology and slash government waste. The department aimed to cut bureaucracy, reduce the federal workforce, and eliminate wasteful spending. Officials even offered federal employees eight months’ pay to quit voluntarily, while planning to close entire agencies like USAID.
However, the relationship between Musk and Trump soured by June 2025. Their public disputes over government spending and policy direction created tension that ultimately proved impossible to resolve. When Musk stepped away from his leadership role, DOGE lost its driving force and began to crumble.
The partnership that promised to revolutionize government efficiency crumbled under the weight of irreconcilable differences and political discord.
Without Musk’s leadership, employee morale plummeted and operations became fragmented. The department that was supposed to last until July 4, 2026, marking America’s 250th anniversary, instead dissolved well ahead of schedule. Federal officials reported that DOGE essentially ceased to exist as a unified organization. The collapse left behind costs exceeding $135 billion despite its original efficiency mission. The government hired approximately 68,000 employees in the current year as agencies moved to fill critical gaps left by the dissolution.
The collapse wasn’t entirely without consequence. The Office of Personnel Management absorbed many of DOGE’s functions, while former officials scattered to roles in the State Department and White House budget office. The US Digital Service was rebranded as US DOGE Service, keeping some modernization efforts alive. Government workers, like other investors facing uncertainty, discovered that patience and discipline often prove more valuable than reactionary decision-making during volatile periods.
DOGE faced numerous challenges during its brief existence, including lawsuits over budget cuts and criticism from federal unions. Some observers noted that the department seemed to create more waste than it eliminated, despite its efficiency mission.
While DOGE’s formal structure disappeared, its core principles of digitization, deregulation, and fraud elimination continued within other federal agencies. The department’s legacy lives on through scattered reform efforts, though nothing resembling Musk’s original vision for a bureaucracy-slashing powerhouse remains intact.
