DOGE days are over as Trump disbands Elon Musk’s team of federal cost-cutters

The Trump administration has disbanded theDepartment of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a controversial team of federal cost-cutterspreviously led by Elon Musk, despite months left of the unit’s mandate. Reutersfirst reportedthis weekend that DOGE had broken up, ending the months-long effort by Musk and his associates — many recruited from his various private-sector companies — to reduce alleged fraud and waste and cut employees across the federal government. DOGE wascreated by an executive ordersigned by President Trump in January. The initiative was expected to run for close to two years. As of early November, DOGE “doesn’t exist,” according to Scott Kupor, the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which serves as the federal government’s human resources department. In a tweet on Sunday, Kuporsaidthat DOGE “may not have centralized leadership” anymore under the U.S. Digital Service, but “the principles of DOGE remain alive and well: de-regulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; re-shaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first-class citizen.” Amy Gleason, who was named as the“official” acting administratorof DOGE earlier this year,posted on LinkedInsoon after Kupor’s remarks, featuring a Doge meme with the words, “I’m alive.” While active, DOGE claimed to have saved the federal government billions of dollars in wasted taxpayer dollars. But critics, including lawmakers, say DOGE dismantled federal programs and government departments with little to show in terms of quantifiable savings. DOGE’s cuts havealso been blamedforcountless deathsacross the world following the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which provided humanitarian aid and disaster relief. DOGE alsoaccessed federal databases containing highly sensitive personal informationbelonging to millions of Americans, and was accused ofsecurity lapsesthat put that data at risk from malicious adversaries. Musk departed DOGE earlier this yearafter a public falling outwith President Trump. According to Politico, several DOGE staffers are said to be fearful that they could face future federal charges without protections from Musk, who might have been able to secure presidential pardons for them if necessary. Several DOGE staffers are now working for other U.S. federal government departments, according to Reuters, while other prominent DOGE staffers have said they no longer work for the government. Edward Coristine, whose nickname “Big Balls” went viral, said ina post on Xin June that he is “officially out” of DOGE. Topics Security Editor Zack Whittaker is the security editor at TechCrunch. He also authors the weekly cybersecurity newsletter,this week in security. He can be reached via encrypted message at zackwhittaker.1337 on Signal. You can also contact him by email, or to verify outreach, [email protected]. StrictlyVC concludes its 2025 series with an exclusive event featuring insights from leading VCs and builders such as Pat Gelsinger, Mina Fahmi, and more. Plus, opportunities to forge meaningful connections. Anduril’s autonomous weapons stumble in tests and combat, WSJ reports This Thanksgiving’s real drama may be Michael Burry versus Nvidia The future will be explained to you in Palo Alto Why ‘hold forever’ investors are snapping up venture capital ‘zombies’ Altman describes OpenAI’s forthcoming AI device as more peaceful and calm than the iPhone OpenAI learned the hard way that Cameo trademarked the word ‘cameo’ US banks scramble to assess data theft after hackers breach financial tech firm