The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was dissolved eight months before its term ended. Experts doubt its achievements, but Elon Musk’s initiative managed to inspire reforms by Nova Poshta co-founder Volodymyr Popereshnyuk.
The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was dissolved eight months before its term ended. Experts doubt its achievements, but Elon Musk’s initiative managed to inspire reforms by Nova Poshta co-founder Volodymyr Popereshnyuk.
«It doesn’t exist», Scott Cooper, director of the Office of Human Resources Management, commented on the status of DOGE to Reuters.
US President Donald Trump officially announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency in November 2024, which he called «DOGE» in his statement. One of its leaders was Elon Musk, who has repeatedly promoted the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE). The Department actually began operating in January 2025.
«It’s a chainsaw for bureaucracy», Musk said, holding the tool above his head at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. The department was supposed to quickly cut federal agencies, slash their budgets or refocus their work on Trump’s priorities. But it quickly faced criticism for initiating mass layoffs and cutting aid programs.
In early March, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who is of Ukrainian descent, criticized Elon Musk’s «sledgehammer» approach to cutting administrative costs and mass layoffs in federal government agencies. He also accused Trump and Musk of «intimidation» over the US’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Federal Judge William Alsup of San Francisco later ruled that the dismissal of federal probationary employees was based on «lies» and that the government had illegally carried out the evictions, calling the initiative a «fiction.» The judge ordered the immediate reinstatement of the employees —more than 20,000 people.
At least two prominent DOGE employees now work at the National Design Studio, a new government agency headed by Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who Trump has tasked with decorating government websites. Former
DOGE employee Edward Coristin, nicknamed Big Balls, urged his followers on X (Twitter) to apply to join the organization. Coristin became known as the youngest DOGE member (he was 19 years old), and for reporting that he had provided support to a cybercrime group that boasted of trading stolen data and cyberstalking an FBI agent.
DOGE claimed to have cut costs by tens of billions of dollars, but this was impossible for outside financial experts to verify because the unit did not provide a detailed public report on its work. However, Trump administration officials did not publicly state that DOGE no longer exists, even after Musk’s public spat with Trump in May. Musk has since left Washington.
However, Trump and his team have been publicly signaling its demise since this summer, despite the fact that the US president signed an executive order at the beginning of his term that would have allowed DOGE to exist until July 2026.
Earlier, Nova Poshta co-owner Volodymyr Popereshnyuk said that the company had grown to almost 30,000 employees and was looking for ways to avoid turning into a «sluggish, bureaucratic corporation.» In his post, he mentioned the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and announced an audit of Nova Poshta’s processes.
«In March, at Nova Poshta, we launched the NOVA IDEA reform program, which will make the company more flexible to change, growth, innovation, and more efficient. To do this, we need to debureaucratize and deregulate, reduce the number of unnecessary processes that do not benefit customers, and, conversely, strengthen those processes that create value,» said Popereshnyuk.
A few months later, the company underwent a series of layoffs — in particular, at the end of June , Nova Poshta underwent a large-scale reduction, affecting more than 20 communications specialists. In July, Nova Poshta announced the end of cooperation with Oleksandr Bulba, who had worked at the company for 22 years and had held the position of CEO for the last 10 years. And in August, Andriy Kryvoshapko, CEO of the financial company NovaPay, left his position.
«While Elon Musk has given up and is leaving DOGE, we are just getting started! Nova IDEA will carry out super reforms and turn a good company into the best!», Popereshnyuk noted.
