Billonaire Elon Musk, who was the advisor of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the department which Donald Trump formed, was meant to rebrand and repurpose America’s digital services. Trump made Musk the head of DOGE, and the duo was meant to work together to bring significant changes to America’s digital space.
It was also once hailed as a bold solution for the government to cut costs and save federal funding. However, it’s now under fire after a Senate report revealed the department has cost taxpayers $21.7 billion. According to the report, a large portion of the spending was directed toward paying roughly 200,000 federal employees not to work under DOGE’s “deferred resignation” program.
As per The Irish Star, an additional $66 million was spent assigning highly qualified professionals—like scientists—to menial tasks such as checking tickets at national parks. Another $110 million worth of food aid and medical supplies was left to rot in storage facilities.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations estimates that DOGE “generated at least $21.7 billion in waste across the federal government, despite its ostensible goal of eliminating government waste,” noting this amount could have covered the rescissions package twice. pic.twitter.com/bXs2iWrBEH
— Tyler McBrien (@TylerMcBrien) July 31, 2025
As many people must be aware, Musk and Trump were great allies at the beginning of the term, but due to political differences that arose after Elon Musk slammed Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’, followed by his announcement of a new political party called ‘the America Party’, things have turned sour between them.
Guess What? DOGE Wasted $21 Billion In 6 Months, the Farce Revealed https://t.co/j0AXWIj887
— #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) July 31, 2025
Trump strongly condemned Musk’s decision to form a new party and wrote a stern post via Truth Social, “Third parties only bring DISRUPTION and CHAOS,” Trump continued. “And we’ve already got more than enough of that from the Radical Left Democrats. Meanwhile, Republicans are a well-oiled machine — we just passed the largest bill of its kind in U.S. history.”
While Elon Musk stepped down after public fallout with President Trump, Musk’s vision for DOGE continues. The department’s website claims it has saved Americans $199 billion and recently announced mass layoffs across major agencies, including Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and the Interior Department.
Many anti-DOGE citizens argued the department’s aggressive restructuring was poorly managed and left agencies struggling, with many suspended workers uncertain about their futures. One affected employee told HuffPost, “We’re just guessing when our pay might stop—maybe this week, maybe next month.”
Democrats did the math on DOGE’s “war on waste.” It’s costing Americans $21.7 billion, they concluded. https://t.co/qajLog4m2E
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) August 1, 2025
Meanwhile, Democrats also warned that the real financial damage might be even greater, with legal fees and unresolved consequences yet to be fully accounted for. Even though no one has officially commented on this stance, the report, as per Irish Star, says, “The full extent of the waste and harm caused by DOGE’s disruptive activities is difficult to quantify because costs remain hidden and many of the consequences have yet to fully materialize,” the report stated.
Previously, as per a Yahoo report, Donald Trump reportedly renamed DOGE after President Obama established it as the U.S. Digital Service While it is uncertain whether this entire allegation that Trump just changed the department’s name is true, this claim first appeared in a February 6, 2025, Substack article by attorney Tom Renz, who had allegedly spread misinformation earlier.
View this post on Instagram
While it is true that Obama created the department in 2014 and Donald introduced the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) introduced DOGE in January 2025, the two entities differ. USDS began to work towards the betterment of the condition of government digital space and technology; on the other hand, Trump’s DOGE aims to streamline operations, cut spending, and reduce waste that harms the environment.
With Elon Musk stepping down as an essential ally of the Trump administration, to new reports of the department being poorly managed, the future of DOGE remains uncertain. Since Trump already has a lot on his plate in terms of responsibilities, it’s doubtful that he will be able to manage it alone unless he hires a new team again.
