Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, was handed an unprecedented role in the US government following Donald Trump's 2024 re-election, a campaign he supported with over $250m. Tasked with leading a sweeping 'efficiency' drive, his 'Department of Government Efficiency' (Doge) promised monumental savings but swiftly descended into disarray, leaving a legacy of legal challenges and operational chaos.
Ambitious Promises Collide with Reality
With no prior government experience, the Tesla and SpaceX chief was commissioned by President Trump to eradicate waste and cut federal spending. At a pre-election rally in New York's Madison Square Garden, Musk boldly declared potential savings of "at least $2tn." However, after Trump's return to office in January 2025, these plans hit the buffers. Tens of thousands of federal workers were fired, crippling agencies and triggering a myriad of lawsuits.
Within just four months, Musk announced his abrupt departure from the role. By mid-2025, reports indicated the Doge initiative was effectively defunct, with Musk himself later admitting he wouldn't take on the task again.
'Moving Fast and Breaking Things' in Government
Experts have lambasted the approach. Elaine Kamarck, a former White House official who led the Clinton-era National Performance Review, told The Guardian the project was "complete bullshit from the beginning." She criticised the Silicon Valley mindset of "moving fast and breaking things," stating it doesn't work in government. Analysis by the Brookings Institution recorded 26,511 instances where the administration fired people and then had to rehire them, highlighting the widespread disruption.
"What they did was they sowed chaos to no avail," Kamarck said. She contrasted Doge's methods with her own work, which cut 420,000 jobs over seven years with a strategic plan aligned to agency missions.
By March 2025, Musk had scaled back his savings projection to $1tn. As of December, Doge's claimed savings stand at $214bn, though reports indicate these figures are rife with errors, inaccuracies, and exaggerations.
Lasting Legacy: Lawsuits and Lack of Transparency
The initiative's end has been murky. Last month, the Office of Personnel Management director stated Doge "doesn't exist," though an X account linked to the agency disputed this. Meanwhile, many former Doge staffers are now embedded within various federal agencies.
The project's impact is still being fought in court. Donald K Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Doge in February, accused it of operating with "minimal transparency but maximal authority." The lawsuit alleges Doge failed to comply with recordkeeping and transparency laws.
One notable casualty was Chuck Borges, former chief data officer at the Social Security Administration (SSA). He resigned in August and filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging Doge left public social security data exposed in an insecure cloud environment. This followed Musk promoting misleading claims about fraud at the SSA.
Academics also questioned Doge's necessity. Philip G Joyce, a public policy professor, noted the longstanding Government Accountability Office (GAO) has logged $1.45tn in savings since 2002. He argued Doge was less about efficiency and more about ideologically-driven cuts without congressional approval.
When approached for comment, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle offered a brief defence: "President Trump pledged to cut the waste, fraud, and abuse in our bloated government, and the Administration is committed to delivering on this pledge for the American people."
The story of Doge serves as a stark case study in the clash between disruptive private-sector ambition and the complex, procedural reality of governmental administration.
