3 Goals Musk Set for DOGE — Did He Achieve Them Before He Left?
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Controversial CEO, richest man in the world and former presidential “first buddy,” Elon Musk has garnered significant attention this year regarding his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This technically unofficial organization, created by President Donald Trump and his administration, aims to reduce the federal government’s bureaucracy. Now that Musk has unceremoniously left this position to focus on his other businesses, people are left wondering what he was able to accomplish during his tenure in the White House.
Quick Take: The DOGE Origin Story
The primary aim of DOGE was to modernize federal technology while enhancing efficiency and productivity within the government. However, the department’s main soundbite focused on their goal to slash government spending.
Amid all the early attention paid to Musk, many people might have forgotten that fellow billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was originally named co-head of DOGE. The two laid out some of their DOGE goals in a November 2024, column for The Wall Street Journal. However, Ramaswamy stepped away from the role immediately following Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025.
Many bold predictions were made before the inauguration about what DOGE aimed to accomplish. Here are three things Musk said about the organization, and how those plans have panned out.
DOGE Goal 1: Save $2 Trillion+ in Federal Spending
At first, Musk and Ramaswamy aimed at the “$500 billion plus” in annual federal expenditures that are either “unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended.” However, Musk himself claimed that he could cut about $2 trillion.
Before he left, Musk had not come anywhere close to any of those figures. As of early June, DOGE’s website claims savings of $180 billion, though this figure is without supporting data from the U.S. Treasury showing a drop in government spending and has been disputed by analyses. Either way, even if the figure is accurate, it’s a mere fraction of the original lofty goal. A lot of evidence supports these valuations being inflated to boost numbers even as lapsing government contracts are being claimed as new savings.
Before the inauguration, Musk was already walking back bold claims and expressed doubts that DOGE could find $2 trillion in cuts. He called that figure a “best-case outcome,” but also said there was a “good shot” at cutting half that. That didn’t happen under his leadership and has an even more uncertain outlook now that he has left the position.
DOGE Goal 2: Slash the Federal Bureaucracy
Musk and Ramaswamy originally called the federal bureaucracy an “existential threat” to the republic, and they promised that DOGE would “cut the federal government down to size.” DOGE has made good on that promise by eliminating tens of thousands of federal government jobs and shutting down whole agencies.
An analysis by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that through April of 2025, the government had cut 282,227 jobs — up from only 36,195 during the same period last year. Nearly all of this year’s cuts were directly tied to DOGE.
Among the agencies and services targeted was the Social Security Administration (SSA), which Trump repeatedly said he “would not touch.” But under DOGE, the SSA has already announced plans to cut about 7,000 jobs and close at least 10 offices.
Even supporters of government downsizing have criticized the way DOGE has gone about it.
“The diagnosis of DOGE was correct,” Seb Wride, head of opinion research at Public First US, told the Financial Times. “People still do believe that there is waste in government spending, but the approach DOGE has taken felt reckless.”
DOGE Goal 3: Reduce Regulations
Another priority of Musk and DOGE was to get rid of federal regulations they considered wasteful or anti-business. When Trump instructed federal agencies and their respective DOGE teams to repeal regulations deemed “inconsistent” with his priorities, they were also instructed to do so without providing advance notice or using the normal public input process.
Again, DOGE has succeeded in leading efforts to slash regulations. The Brookings Institute recently identified numerous regulations and policies that have been rescinded this year, including those having to do with the following:
- Methane emissions
- Minimum wage increases for federal contractors
- Cryptocurrency
- Forest protections
- Prescription drug costs
- Affordable Care Act
Final Take To GO: DOGE Without Musk
The bottom line is that when it comes to solid numbers, DOGE largely has failed to live up to the expectations put upon itself, all the way from its leadership to execution. However, in terms of slashing jobs and regulations, it has clearly made a dent. Of course, its approach to such cuts has remained highly polarizing.
Musk’s leaving the position hasn’t cooled anything off for the organization’s controversy as well. There really is no telling what kind of impact DOGE will continue to have.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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