The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created in 2025 with the task of cutting federal spending, but it seems it isn’t getting the response it wanted.
DOGE was created by president Donald Trump under the second Trump administration, and Elon Musk was named as one of the key people in the initiative. However, it was reported by many sources that he is now stepping down from the head of the DOGE to focus more on his company, Tesla, due to plunging profits. According to The Guardian, he is to step down once his 130-day cap on government service expires on July 25. Other sources, like The Verge and Business Insider, said he will be stepping down sometime in May. The acting administrator for DOGE is Amy Gleason. According to DOGE’s website, it has an estimated savings of $170 billion as well as $1,055.90 saved per taxpayer. But despite these infographics, it seems some people do not think DOGE is a great idea.
An article published by the Intelligencer titled “DOGE May Leave Behind Nothing But Stupidity and Chaos,” show in the first couple words that DOGE and Trump could be ruining the United States.
“DOGE-watchers in Washington and around the desolated turf of the federal bureaucracy have been eagerly waiting for Elon Musk’s announced ramp-down of his destructive activities for Donald Trump,” Intelligencer political columnist Ed Kilgore said.
All around the article, it talks roughly about DOGE. The last sentence of the article seems to cap off how much of a bad idea DOGE could be.
“What will be left is a legacy of brutal and essentially stupid raids on the federal government bereft of any real strategy or coherent policy goals, along with the sheer fear and chaos DOGE used to intimidate its enemies and titillate MAGA yahoos,” Kilgore said.
While the article shows criticism, a poll from NBC News showed that 46% of voters think DOGE is a good idea. But it’s a close call, with 40% of voters thinking it is a bad idea. Another poll poses the question “Which best describes what you think about Elon Musk, DOGE, and their efforts to reduce spending and the size of the federal government?” The results were very different from the other poll, with 33% of people saying it should continue, 28% saying it is needed but should slow down to assess the impact and another 33% saying it is reckless and needs to stop.
The New York Times did a series of polls on people’s opinion on DOGE. Across different polls, more people disapproved of DOGE, where the first and second polls showed 58% of people disapproved of DOGE, and the third poll showed 60% of people disapproved. A different poll showed that 63% of people worry about DOGE’s access to government data. So it is clear that while some people like the idea of DOGE, the polls showed that the majority of people disliked it.
Due to all of the disapproval and Elon stepping down, it seems that DOGE will not last long. But they are still getting some approval from some Americans, and Trump’s slogan is literally “Make America Great Again.” So with the infographics shown of all the savings, I would not be surprised if Trump kept DOGE going. But if he does continue it, I also wouldn’t be surprised if it kept getting some disapproval from Americans.
