He promised to cut trillions from the government (Picture: Getty) Elon Musk’s passion project in the US government officially no longer exists, despite months remaining on its official mandate. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was headed by Musk, who vowed to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget before seemingly cutting that figure by half. Despite the mandate which created DOGE having eight months left on its contract, it’s now been revealed that it officially no longer exists. The original contract stated that the department would last until July 4, 2026 – meaning it’s ending much earlier than planned. When asked by Reuters about DOGE, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Scott Kupor, replied: ‘That doesn’t exist.’ He specified that DOGE is no longer a ‘centralised entity’. In the past few months, much of the DOGE staff has been transitioning into other government positions or out of government entirely, signalling that the department might be in trouble. Musk wore DOGE hats in the Oval Office (Picture: Getty) One hallmark of DOGE – a government-wide hiring freeze – is also over, Kupor told Reuters. ‘There is no target around reductions anymore,’ he clarified. How did DOGE’s existence impact government employees? Musk claimed the programme saved $214billion (Picture: Getty) After DOGE was established, Musk promised to cut trillions from the US deficit by slashing jobs, funding and more. It’s unclear if he actually accomplished this, but the programme did leave an impact on the government workforce. An estimated 200,000 federal workers were laid off by May this year, drawing scrutiny from many, as USAID, which provides vital support to other countries, was also slashed. But Kupor wrote on X: ‘The principles of DOGE remain alive and well: deregulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; re-shaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first-class citizen.’ DOGE’s website claims that it saved $214billion for the US federal government, but these figures aren’t substantiated. What effects did DOGE have on Musk? Even as DOGE has ended, Musk is still in Washington – he was there as the Saudi leader visited (Picture: AFP) Even though the department was Musk’s pride and joy in government, it didn’t come without issues for the tech guru. Earlier this year, Trump claimed he might have to deport Musk or ‘put DOGE’ on him. Trump threatened Musk this summer after the tech boss opposed his ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’.