DOGE's impact: Small savings, but a weakening of the federal government

LeMonde

27-05-2025

A total of $175 billion in budget cuts, or $1,086 per American taxpayer: That is the figure posted on the website of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which the billionaire Elon Musk ran from the start of Donald Trump's second term in office until his recent departure. The total has fallen far short of the original $1 trillion goal. In 2024, US federal government spending reached $6.75 trillion, with Joe Biden leaving a deficit amounting to $1.825 trillion.
However, the vast majority of American public spending goes toward four sectors that Trump could not or would not touch: pension funds, health care for seniors, defense and veterans' affairs and paying off interest on the national debt. In this context, Musk's room for maneuver was extremely limited, and he focused on highly visible political targets such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which, in the end, have little macroeconomic significance.
While he achieved little in terms of budget savings, Musk nevertheless accomplished one of his objectives: weakening the federal government's infrastructure. Around 284,000 public sector employees have been pushed out of or will soon have to leave their jobs, according to a tally by The New York Times, as of its last update on May 12. This figure includes 58,566 people who were laid off, 76,290 who accepted voluntary departure buyouts offered by Musk, and 149,320 more planned job cuts. This tally does not include people whom US courts have ordered must be reinstated.