Dissolution of DOGE: Elon Musk leaves a disaster, the predicted catastrophe has just happened

THE Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGEno longer exists. This laconic confirmation came this weekend from Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management, the federal agency responsible for human resources. Asked by Reuters about the status of DOGE, Kupor said: “It doesn’t exist.” He clarified that the initiative was no longer “the centralized entity” which it represented when Trump handed the reins to Elon Musk in January. Most functions have been absorbed by OPM itself.

This anticipated dissolution contrasts sharply with the media noise that accompanied the launch of the project. On January 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration, the billionaire was given a mandate as vague as it was ambitious: slash federal spending, massive layoffs and dismantle entire sections of the administration. At a meeting in February, Musk brandished a chainsaw in front of the crowd and declared: “It’s the chainsaw for the bureaucracy.”

The promises were enough to make one dizzy. Musk vowed to save a trillion dollars from the federal budget by September. The final numbers tell a different story. The DOGE site claims 214 billion in savings, but several independent analyzes, including that of Politico this summer, demonstrated that these amounts were inflatedcalculated on the basis of theoretical maximum expenses rather than actual savings.

Fictitious economies, very real victims

The human cost turns out to be much more concrete. At the Social Security administration, the cuts have caused considerable delays in processing files. USAID, the US international development agency credited with saving tens of millions of lives over the past two decades, was virtually shut down in July. An internal memo mentioned hundreds of thousands of additional deaths as a foreseeable consequence.

THE Musk’s departure at the end of Mayafter the expiration of his contract as a special government employee limited to 130 days, had already sounded the death knell. A public falling out with Trump in June over a tax bill ended up burying the collaboration. The two men have since apparently reconciled, with Musk occasionally reappearing alongside the president.

Since then, DOGE employees have evaporated into the administrative wilderness. Some have joined the National Design Studio, a new office led by Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, tasked with beautifying government sites. Others were reclassified in various departments. In October, there were already only 45 left.

The White House maintains that the objectives of reducing waste remain a priority. Liz Hewson, spokesperson, assured that “President Trump continues to actively fulfill this commitment.” Kupor, for his part, posted a message on social media Sunday evening that appeared to take issue with the article. Reuterswithout refuting the facts.

This discreet ending contrasts with the initial excitement. DOGE was to revolutionize the federal state by applying Silicon Valley methods. He will especially have illustrated the limits of an entrepreneurial approach brutally transposed to the public sector. Between the promises of efficiency and administrative reality, the gulf was too yawning.

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