DOGE Recap: Department of Government Efficiency Goals, Successes and Failures Summarized

Welcome to earlier DOGE status updates.

DOGE May 2025 Timeline: Key Updates...

May 28 - Preparing to Leave: Musk began offboarding from DOGE. He exited on May 30. (Source: CNN)

May 27 - Federal Budget Debate: Musk criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the Congress a week earlier, alleging that the bill would increase the national debt and undermine DOGE's cost-cutting efforts. Critics alleged that Musk was upset about the bill ending various EV industry incentives.

May 21 - Court Ruling: A federal judge ruled that DOGE’s takeover of U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)—removing board members, staff, and shutting down operations—was unlawful, restoring control to USIP leadership. (Source: The Associated Press)

May 9 - USAID Risks: Bill Gates alleges the gutting of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would lead to millions of deaths around the world. (Source: CNN)

May 9 - Layoffs Blocked: A judge temporarily barred the Trump administration from carrying out sweeping cuts and layoffs at over a dozen government agencies. (Source: CBS News)

May 8 - Automated Layoffs: DOGE os poised to roll out software to speed layoffs across the U.S. government. (Source: Reuters)

May 2 - Social Security: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to clear the way for DOGE to access Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. (Source: The Associated Press)

DOGE April 2025 Timeline: Key Updates...

April 30 - Musk Shifts Time Commitments: Musk says DOGE has saved taxpayers $160 billion — far less than his original projections — and that he plans to refocus more of his time on running Tesla. Still, Musk plans to spend two days per week focused on DOGE, reports said. (Source: CNBC)

April 28 - Musk Benefits from DOGE?: Leveraging the work of DOGE, Musk may skirt more than $2 billion in possible financial liabilities by exercising his influence over the federal government, according to a report Monday from Senate Democratic committee staffers. (Source: CNBC)

April 23 - Texas Forms State-Level DOGE: Inspired by DOGE, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill creating a Texas office "aimed at reducing state regulations, joining other Republican governors who have pledged their own versions of billionaire Elon Musk’s cost-cutting group." The governors of Montana, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida and Louisiana have issued executive orders to create state DOGE departments (Source: Associated Press)

April 23 - DOGE Shutters Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): DOGE is ending the work of a U.S. aid agency launched by Republican former President George W. Bush to reduce poverty and promote economic growth around the world. (Source: Reuters)

April 22 - Musk Transition: Musk says his time spent running DOGE will drop “significantly” starting in May 2025. (Source: CNBC, 2025)

April 11 - Reduced Expectations: Musk said he anticipates DOGE efforts to slash "waste and fraud" from the federal government will cut $150 billion in spending over the next fiscal year, appearing to dramatically lower much-loftier projections he previously touted. (Source: USA Today)

April 11 - Department of Defense (DoD) Layoffs: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memo directing the termination of $5.1B in wasteful DoD contracts as part of his partnership with DOGE. (Source: SeekingAlpha)

April 10 - Musk Exit Date?: Dozens of House Democrats are demanding President Trump confirm that Musk will leave his role in the administration by May 30. (Source: The Hill)

April 10 - FDIC Engagement: The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has brought on several staffers from DOGE. (Source: Reuters)

April. 9 - DOGE Faces Audit: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is auditing DOGE, Wired reported. The probe, which has been ongoing since March 2025, covers DOGE’s handling of data at several cabinet-level agencies, the report said. (Source: Wired)

April 8 - Big Brother: The DOGE team is using AI to surveil at least one federal agency’s communications for hostility to President Trump and his agenda. (Source: Reuters).

April 7 - DOGE Regains Data Access:  A divided federal appeals court overturned an injunction that blocked DOGE from accessing Americans' private data at the Treasury and Education departments and the Office of Personnel Management. (Source: Reuters)

April 6 - Social Security Challenges: Office closures, staffing and service cuts, and policy changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA) have caused “complete, utter chaos” and are threatening to send the agency into a “death spiral." (Source: The Guardian)

April 6 - Homeland Security Cuts?: DOGE plans to cut staff at the Department of Homeland Security and agencies under it including the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Source: CNN)

April 5 - "Hands Off" Protests: Tens of thousands of Hands Off protesters mustered in cities and towns across the country on April 5 to sound off against the Trump administration's cuts to the federal government and its policies. (Source: ABC News)

April 3 - Job Cut Errors: The Department of Health and Human Services made 10,000 job cuts, but roughly 20% of those employees will be rehired, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Source: CBS News)

April 2 - When Will Musk Exit?: Musk will exit DOGE around May 2025, and the White House denied a Politico report that Musk's exit is more imminent. (Source: FOX News)

Continue to next page for DOGE status updates from March 2025 and earlier.