Trump's DOGE, formerly led by Musk, shuts down 8 months before term end: Report

The US government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by President Donald Trump to cut federal spending and shrink agencies, has quietly shut down eight months before its term was supposed to end. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed that DOGE no longer operates as a separate department, and many of its duties have now shifted to OPM.

DOGE was launched with a lot of attention early in Trump's second term, making aggressive attempts to reduce government staff, budgets and programs. Billionaire Elon Musk, who initially led the unit, often promoted its work online and even used a chainsaw as a prop to symbolize cutting government jobs. However, DOGE never released detailed accounts of its cost savings, making its impact hard to measure.

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Some of its former members have moved into other roles. Joe Gebbia, Airbnb's co-founder, now heads a new design studio tasked with improving government websites, said a report by news agency Reuters. Zachary Terrell, who was part of the DOGE group with access to federal health systems early in Trump's second term, has now taken over as the chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel Riley, who had similar access, has moved on to lead the Office of Naval Research, the report noted.

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Jeremy Lewin, known for working with Musk and the Trump team to scale back the US Agency for International Development, is now in charge of foreign aid programs at the State Department.

Although Trump once ordered DOGE to remain active until mid-2026, officials have been speaking about it in the past tense for months, the report said. The government-wide hiring freeze linked to DOGE has also ended, OPM Director Scott Kupor said, as per the agency. Still, the administration continues its efforts to reduce regulations, now using AI tools to review and eliminate outdated rules.

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Meanwhile, several Republican-led states are trying to set up their own versions of DOGE, even as the original unit fades away in Washington.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Source: HindustanTimes
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