Elon Musk’s four-month run leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has ended amid a predictably public and petty feud with US President Donald Trump, leaving behind an estimated $160 billion in federal spending cuts over the next year. The actual savings are likely much lower – and even if taken at face value, that figure falls far short of the $2 trillion Musk promised to cut from the nearly $7 trillion federal budget.Most of DOGE’s cuts have come through blunt-force downsizing: mass layoffs and buyouts, wholesale cancellations of government contracts, and across-the-board spending freezes. Critics view DOGE as “efficiency theater,” rather than a serious effort to improve government performance. Many of the savings, it is feared, will be offset by unintended consequences, such as reduced productivity, increased employee turnover, and lost tax revenue.
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