When Elon Musk announced late last year that he would lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” known as Doge, he promised unprecedented transparency. The initiative, he said, would uncover massive fraud and eliminate as much as $2 trillion in government waste.
Nearly a year later, Musk has left the White House, Doge has failed to reach even a fraction of its ambitious savings goals, and dozens of lawsuits accuse the agency of violating transparency and privacy laws. Despite its sweeping impact, much of Doge’s actual work remains opaque.
Doge moved aggressively through the federal government in its early months. It dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID), placed staff inside nearly every major agency, and oversaw large-scale firings that courts later ruled unlawful in many cases. Yet Musk’s claims of success are difficult to verify. There is no clear accounting of what Doge achieved, or even whether it still functions as a unified organization.
Efforts to evaluate the agency’s impact have been complicated by ongoing government resistance to releasing documents. That lack of disclosure, critics argue, reflects the disorder Doge introduced rather than the efficiency it promised.
Although the disruption caused by Doge is visible both inside and outside the US, details about how the agency operated—and the full extent of the damage it caused—remain elusive. Humanitarian groups continue to assess the fallout, while ethics organizations pursue legal action to force the government to reveal more information.
“It may feel like this all happened over many years, but we’re still in the first year of this administration,” said Nikhel Sus, deputy chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “The public has a right to know what happened.”
Global Consequences of Aid Cuts
Internationally, Doge’s decision to shut down USAID created widespread instability. Aid organizations across the world lost funding with little warning, forcing thousands of workers out of their jobs. HIV/AIDS testing dropped sharply, and public health researchers have warned that as many as 14 million additional deaths could occur over the next five years if US aid is not restored.
However, the true scale of the harm is difficult to measure. According to the International AIDS Society (IAS), the cuts also weakened monitoring systems and communication networks, making accurate data collection far more challenging.
“The damage to infrastructure means we don’t have a complete picture,” said IAS president Beatriz Grinsztejn.
Questionable Savings and Disputed Numbers
Doge originated from Musk’s support of Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. On the campaign trail, Musk repeatedly claimed the agency could eliminate trillions in wasteful spending. At one rally, he predicted savings of $2 trillion, later revising that figure to $1 trillion by the end of September.
To support these claims, Doge launched an online tracker intended to show canceled contracts and budget cuts. Even by Doge’s own figures, however, the results fall far short of its promises. The tracker estimates $214 billion in savings, while its so-called “wall of receipts” lists only $61 billion in canceled contracts. The site has not been updated since early October and has been criticized for major errors that inflate its numbers.
Independent analysts across the political spectrum argue that Doge’s figures do not accurately reflect reality. The complexity of government contracts, legal challenges to layoffs, and reinstatements of fired workers make the true financial impact extremely difficult to determine.
A Democratic report released in August estimated that Doge’s actions may have actually created $21.7 billion in waste, including paying employees who were placed on deferred resignation. Meanwhile, the federal workforce shrank by roughly 300,000 employees—about a 9% reduction—largely due to Doge-driven policies.
According to a recent analysis by the libertarian Cato Institute, such a rapid decline in federal employment has not occurred since the post–World War II and Korean War demobilizations.
Long-Term Costs and Human Impact
Beyond layoffs, Doge’s most significant effects came from slashing foreign aid. Musk openly celebrated the dismantling of USAID, but the consequences were severe. Food assistance programs were halted, medical services were disrupted, and HIV prevention efforts suffered major setbacks.
IAS reports that in Mozambique, access to antiretroviral HIV treatment fell by 25%, while Johannesburg saw a one-third decline. Around 156,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean lost access to HIV testing and treatment entirely.
Food aid cuts also led to deadly consequences. According to a Gates Foundation–backed study, 2025 may become the first year in decades in which global deaths of children under five increase.
“The world’s richest man has played a role in the deaths of the world’s poorest children,” Bill Gates said in an interview with the New York Times.
Legal Battles and Lingering Uncertainty
From the moment Trump signed the executive order creating Doge, watchdog groups filed lawsuits demanding clarity about its authority and compliance with transparency laws. As reports emerged of Doge staff accessing sensitive databases and driving mass firings, the number of legal challenges grew.
While some cases have been resolved—such as a Supreme Court decision granting certain Doge staff access to Social Security data—many of the most important questions remain unanswered. Courts are still weighing whether Doge must disclose internal records and how much power it legally holds.
CREW’s lawsuit, filed nearly 11 months ago, has already won two lower-court rulings but remains tied up in appeals. Other cases face similarly uncertain timelines.
“These lawsuits are about defining what Doge is allowed to do,” Sus said. “Without that clarity, the administration could revive Doge at any moment and repeat the same kind of rapid, secretive dismantling.”
Does Doge Still Operate?
By late March, Musk and several top Doge officials appeared on Fox News to defend the agency. Most of those figures—including Musk’s deputy Steve Davis and longtime associate Antonio Gracias—have since left government service. Others remain in reduced roles.
Many Doge positions were designed to be temporary, but departures were often chaotic. Musk exited the White House in May after public clashes with other officials and a highly public dispute with Trump. Davis officially left soon after but reportedly continued influencing operations, raising concerns about legality and accountability.
Several former Doge leaders have since returned to Musk’s companies. Davis reappeared as CEO of the Boring Company, while Anthony Armstrong became chief financial officer at Musk’s AI firm, xAI. Joe Gebbia, an Airbnb co-founder, remains in government and now oversees federal website redesigns.
Some of the young engineers Musk recruited have transitioned into permanent government roles, while others returned to the private sector. Overall, the structure, authority, and even existence of Doge remain uncertain.
Despite its sweeping actions and lasting consequences, Doge remains largely undocumented. For critics and watchdogs, that lack of clarity is precisely the problem.
