AmericaU.S. President Donald Trump disbanded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) eight months before the end of his term, ending an initiative launched with much public attention as a symbol of his promise to shrink government and which critics say has produced few concrete savings.
– It no longer exists – Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor told Reuters earlier this month, confirming that DOGE is no longer a “centralized institution”. It was the Trump administration’s first public comment on the end of DOGE.
The agency, established in January, in the first months of Trump’s second term, has been aggressively cutting federal agencies, their budgets, or redirecting work to the president’s priorities. OPM, the federal government’s personnel service, has taken over many of DOGE’s functions.
At least two prominent DOGE employees are now involved in the National Design Studio, a new body created by an executive order Trump signed in August. At the head of that body is Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb, to whom Trump entrusted the task of improving the appearance of government websites. Gebbia was previously part of billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE team, while DOGE employee Edward Coristine was urging his followers on the X network to apply for membership.
DOGE claimed to have cut tens of billions of dollars in costs, but outside financial experts could not confirm this because the unit did not provide detailed public reports.
– Trump received a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, and he is actively fulfilling that obligation – said White House spokeswoman Liz Huston.
Although administration officials have never said openly that DOGE no longer exists, Trump and his team have been signaling its end since the summer, even though the president previously signed an executive order that would have made DOGE last until July 2026.
In his addresses to journalists, Trump often speaks about DOGE in the past tense. Interim Administrator Amy Gleason, a health technology expert, became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, in addition to her role at DOGE. Her public statements mostly focused on the new position. Meanwhile, Republican states like Idaho and Florida are creating local entities similar to DOGE.
Kupor confirmed that the government-wide employment ban has ended, which is another characteristic of DOGE. On his first day in office, Trump banned federal agencies from hiring new workers, except for positions his team deemed critical to enforcing immigration laws and protecting public safety. He later added that DOGE must approve all exceptions, with the rule that “at most one worker for every four who leave the service” should be employed.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
