The Department of Government Efficiency Explained

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re breaking down the purpose, goals, and reactions to Elon Musk’s new temporary organization under the U.S. federal government.

Why Was DOGE Started?

Historically, the Republican Party platform has promoted the idea of a smaller government, emphasizing personal responsibility and limiting perceived overreach into the affairs of the average American. As such, the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency aims to reduce what it refers to as “wasteful” spending in an attempt to rapidly streamline and balance the federal budget. How does it plan to do that? By implementing intense, unforgiving measures that, so far, have largely focused on drastically reducing the size of the federal workforce. Organization head Musk has suggested that, out of the 400 existing federal agencies, fewer than 100 could be safe from DOGE’s wrath. Of course, we should point out that the Department of Government Efficiency isn’t actually a new federal executive department, like the U.S. Department of Justice or Education. That would need to be passed through Congress, and establishing it as a temporary organization frees it from significant levels of oversight — which its critics have largely decried.

Who Is Involved In DOGE?

We should probably begin with the man who started it all: South African billionaire Elon Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who also owns the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), has been a crucial key advisor to President Donald Trump, even before his presidency officially began. Vivek Ramaswamy, another businessman who competed with President Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was slated to head DOGE alongside Musk, but dropped out in January 2025 after reported infighting between the two. Musk has recruited several Republican politicians to serve on DOGE-related subcommittees. These include the U.S. House representatives Aaron Bean and Pete Sessions, who chair the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus. A congressional subcommittee will be headed by controversial Georgia rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa will represent DOGE in the U.S. Senate. Mostly a Republican-led effort, Democratic congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida is the only member of his party to have announced his participation in the congressional subcommittee.

What Are DOGE’s Goals?

An op-ed published by Musk and Ramaswamy at the end of November 2024 — shortly after the election that returned President Trump to power — revealed the direction they could be expected to take their organization in. The Wall Street Journal piece announced that “We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America.” The now-former colleagues also shared that they would “pursue” three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings,” and that they would “[drive] change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws.” They go on to say that “DOGE will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action, immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission.” In doing so, Musk claims that, based on a figure calculated by Senator Ernst, DOGE will be able to trim $2 trillion from the federal budget.
What Has DOGE Accomplished So Far?
We’ll get to the unprecedented security clearance and access to sensitive information that Musk and DOGE have been granted in a bit. For now, what has DOGE gotten up to since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, 2025? As several prominent news outlets have reported, quite a lot actually: the billionaire and his team of engineers, volunteers, and corporate allies have been moving at lightning speed to reshape the structure of the U.S. government as we currently know it. As reported by Wired, Musk hollowed out the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and replaced its highest-ranking members with his own former employees. A “Fork in the Road” memo sent by the OPM on January 28th to all U.S. federal servants offered them a choice: accept a “deferred resignation” and be paid until the end of September, pledge your allegiance to President Trump, or be forcibly removed. In early February, Musk announced that the United States Agency for International Development (or USAID), an organization he has repeatedly criticized, would be shut down on Trump’s orders.

Is DOGE Actually Taking Over the U.S. Government?

New York senator and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted Musk and DOGE in a post to X, saying that “An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government. [...] DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law. DOGE’s conduct cannot be allowed to stand.” Schumer’s grave tone aligns with publicly expressed fears that, true to its mandate, DOGE has no responsibility to the government and can operate free from regulatory oversight — and out from under the eyes of the American public. As reported by the Associated Press, this comes on the heels of Musk having “created an alternative power structure” within the federal government. The Executive Order that established DOGE, reported on by the New York Times, stated unequivocally that DOGE employees would have “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems.” As such, alarm bells went off when David Lebryk, a career civil servant at the Treasury Department, was fired after denying DOGE access to a system that controls $5.4 trillion in federal payments.

What Are People Saying About DOGE?

As you can probably guess, DOGE and its initiatives have been met with a predictably polarizing response. Some in the private sector, like CEOs Jamie Dimon and Brian Armstrong, have supported the idea of streamlining the federal government. Even some working in government have come out in support of the organization, like Democratic senator Bernie Sanders and congressman Ro Khanna, who have specifically endorsed the idea of cutting defense spending. However, even more have criticized DOGE’s lack of oversight, accountability, and stated methods, in line with Senator Schumer’s “shadow government” accusation. Many doubt that DOGE will even be able to find $2 trillion in savings — economist Mark Zandi has said that even $200 billion seems difficult and unlikely to achieve. As with anything Trump sets out to accomplish, the world can only wait and see what he and Musk do next.


What do you think of the Department of Government Efficiency? Will it be effective in cutting costs or is something more sinister afoot? Let us know in the comments below!