Chicago – April 28, 2025
When President Trump returned to the White House in January, he had pledged to “restore competence and effectiveness” in the federal government by creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In the months leading up to his inauguration, DOGE transformed from an internet meme into an external commission and eventually into a White House office that was granted sweeping authority to overhaul the executive branch in the name of fighting perceived waste, fraud, and abuse.
A small group of software engineers and individuals connected to billionaire Elon Musk quickly spread across federal agencies, where they pushed for the firing of tens of thousands of federal employees, dismantled agencies, cut spending on foreign food aid, medical research, and office supplies, and accessed multiple sensitive data systems. Last week, Musk announced he would reduce his involvement with DOGE to refocus on Tesla, as the 130-day limit on his role as a “special government employee” neared its end. “The DOGE team made significant progress in addressing waste and fraud,” he said at the time.
In a recent interview , Trump described DOGE as “a very big success,” claiming they uncovered “hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse.” He argued much of what they found was, in his opinion, illegal and reiterated that DOGE had been a major achievement.
However, despite those statements, 100 days into Trump’s second term, DOGE had failed to deliver meaningful savings, increased efficiency, or greater transparency. Musk’s original vision of slashing government spending ran into repeated obstacles. Their initial savings target of $2 trillion was first reduced to $1 trillion, and later further downgraded to $150 billion, less than one-tenth of Musk’s original promise. Even reaching that lowered goal appeared difficult, due to DOGE’s history of exaggerated claims and Trump’s insistence on protecting Social Security and Medicare, which represented large portions of the federal budget.
Many of DOGE’s initiatives were eventually reversed or delayed following legal challenges and widespread public criticism. Since January 20, dozens of federal lawsuits had been filed either directly challenging DOGE’s actions or mentioning them.
