The Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE and created as part of President Donald Trump's commitment to reduce the size of the federal government, was disbanded 8 months before the end of its term, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Critics point out that the initiative, which started with much fanfare, has brought few real savings.
"It no longer exists", Scott Cooper, director of the Office of Personnel Management, told Reuters earlier this month in response to a question about the status of DOGE. He added that the department is no longer a "centralized entity", the first public comments from the Trump administration about the end of DOGE.
The entity, created in January in the early months of Trump's second term, has taken action to rapidly reduce staffing levels at federal agencies, cut budgets and refocus activities on the president's priorities. The Office of Personnel Management has taken over many of DOGE's functions, according to Cooper and documents reviewed by Reuters.
The decline in DOGE's activity contrasts with months of administration efforts to drum up attention for the department - Trump, his advisers and cabinet members have been active in posting about it on social media. Elon Musk, who initially ran DOGE, has often praised its work on the "Ex" platform and at one point even demonstrated his efforts to cut government jobs with a chainsaw.
The department claimed to have cut costs by tens of billions of dollars, but outside financial experts cannot confirm this data, as the unit did not publicly provide detailed reports on its work.
Trump administration officials have not openly stated that DOGE no longer exists, even after the public conflict between Musk and Trump in May.
However, Trump and his team have hinted at its end, although the US president signed an executive order earlier in his term that stated that DOGE would exist until July 2026.