What is the DOGE that has not been dissolved still doing?

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The news reported by Reuters that “the US government's efficiency department DOGE has been disbanded” turned out to be false.

According to a report by Reuters on November 23, the person who publicly confirmed this news is a senior official from the Trump administration, Scott Kupor, the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (USOPM). This news quickly caused an uproar. In Reuters' description, the gradual decline of DOGE stands in stark contrast to the government's months-long efforts to promote its effectiveness: Trump and his advisors, along with cabinet ministers, initially hyped it on social media, and Musk even once wielded a chainsaw to promote the reduction of government positions.

However, a dramatic scene soon unfolded, and this seemingly explosive report quickly sparked controversy and clarifications from multiple parties.

DOGE tweeted that this is fake news.

After the report was released, Scott Kupor, who was allegedly quoted in the article, quickly disputed Reuters on social media, claiming that Reuters “skillfully edited” his full comments to create a sensational headline.

He clarified in a tweet: “The principles of DOGE still exist and operate well: deregulation, elimination of fraudulent waste and abuse, reshaping the federal workforce, making efficiency a priority, etc. DOGE has catalyzed these changes.”; “The fact is: DOGE may not have achieved centralized leadership under @USDS. But the principles of DOGE still exist and are effective.”

Reuters' “fake news,” those who hope for DOGE to disband have never taken a break.

As a globally renowned news agency, Reuters' clients are spread across the world and should theoretically maintain a relatively neutral stance. However, in the United States, conservative readers generally believe that Reuters leans left. This time, the advance report on the dissolution of DOGE—was it an objective statement of facts or does it carry a certain bias? There is much discussion about this in the outside world.

From various signs, this report may reflect several levels of things: first, the establishment and traditional media are genuinely unhappy with DOGE as a disruptor, wanting to weaken its influence by portraying its “dissolution”; second, the political circle in Washington has always been averse to Musk and DOGE, and is conveniently using the media to announce its failure.

This speculation by the public is not without basis.

Since its inception, DOGE has been destined to have enemies on all sides. The very existence of this institution is a challenge to the power structure of Washington, as it touches the interests of too many people, and therefore has faced fierce opposition from multiple fronts.

Protesters gathered outside the Human Resources Management Office, claiming that Musk illegally controls government infrastructure and expressing concerns that the unelected foreign-born individual may steal sensitive information stored on federal servers. Federal employees, retirees, and others shocked and angry about Musk and DOGE's actions organized a rally in front of the Treasury Department. 21 employees of the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) collectively resigned. These internal rebellions demonstrate that DOGE's radical practices have provoked strong resistance among government employees.

Multiple polls show that most Americans oppose the dissection of DOGE by the government and the power gained by Musk. Musk once mentioned in a cabinet meeting that the team of the Department of Efficiency he leads faces death threats every day.

Although Musk left Washington in May after publicly falling out with Trump, officials from the Trump administration never publicly claimed it was no longer in existence. However, signals of DOGE's demise have been discussed and released by the outside world.

For example, this time the “false informant” Scott Kupor, although there is no direct evidence showing that he has an open conflict with Musk or DOGE, has publicly stated that he does not agree with the way DOGE is handled.

Who is Scott Kupor, the “Ulong Whistleblower”?

The name Scott Kupor may be unfamiliar to many. However, he was previously the managing partner at the renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). On July 14, 2025, Scott Kupor was sworn in as the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

After taking office, Kupor introduced modern recruitment reforms, such as changing the traditional “select one from three candidates” to “select from a larger talent pool,” aiming to choose candidates from a broader talent pool. He also emphasized that OPM needs to become more efficient and transparent, actively bringing in technical talent (especially related to AI) into the federal government.

During a media interview, Kupor clearly stated, “OPM is its own institution.” He added that if DOGE's goals align with his, he is willing to collaborate, but he will never fully follow DOGE's directives. In other words, he wants to institutionalize efficiency reforms but will not completely embrace Musk's radical approach.

Past reports also show that Kupor and DOGE have differing opinions. According to the Financial Times, he has criticized the management mechanisms strongly pushed by Musk, such as requiring employees to submit “weekly progress reports.” The Washington Post also reported that he feels Musk's “five things weekly report system” is not efficient. He also expressed doubt about Musk's initially proposed super aggressive reduction targets, stating, “We can't just rely on cutting discretionary spending to zero to save two trillion dollars.”

This incremental reform approach stands in stark contrast to Musk's radical layoffs. Kupor may believe that promoting reform through traditional institutions like OPM is more prudent and sustainable than relying on “external consultants” like Musk. Despite criticism, he also believes that DOGE has played a key catalytic role.

According to Kupor himself, along with revelations from Reuters, OPM has now taken over much of the cost-cutting and downsizing work for DOGE. From the perspective of the bureaucracy, OPM, as the federal government's human resources department, is supposed to handle these tasks. Kupor's statement may reflect an adjustment mindset within the Trump administration: there is no longer a need for a controversial independent agency led by Musk, but rather to integrate reform functions into regular government departments. This way, reforms can continue to be promoted while reducing external pressure.

What “report card” did DOGE submit?

At the Trump campaign rally in Madison Square Garden in October last year, Musk stated that he believes DOGE could reduce federal spending by “at least” $2 trillion, a figure that exceeds the discretionary spending budget for 2023.

At the first cabinet meeting in February this year, Musk remained optimistic that it would be possible to cut $1 trillion - 15% of the budget.

However, as time went on, this target continued to shrink. In April 2025, Musk stated that it had been reduced by $150 billion, but this figure was questioned by fact-checkers. On June 5, Blake Moore, the head of the House GOP DOGE core group, said that Republican members always knew this was a “massive exaggeration.”

According to its website, DOGE terminated 13,440 contracts, 15,887 grants, and 264 leases—these estimated figures have fluctuated dramatically during its 10 months of existence. DOGE promised to save American taxpayers $1 trillion, but even by their own accounts, they are far from achieving this goal.

As of the time of writing, the DOGE website claims that the department has collectively achieved savings of $214 billion through “asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, removal of fraud and improper payments, grant cancellations, interest savings, project modifications, regulatory savings, and layoffs,” equivalent to $1,329.19 per taxpayer.

This figure is far from the initially promised target of $1 trillion, having only completed about 21%. Due to the agency not disclosing detailed working accounts, external financial experts are unable to verify the truth of this statement. In October, after the end of the fiscal year, The New York Times reported that budget experts and congressional appropriations committees still do not know how much funding has been cut or where this unused funding has gone.

In a recent tweet, DOGE stated that they have terminated or reduced 78 wasteful contracts over the past 9 days, with a total value of 1.9 billion dollars, saving 335 million dollars.

This includes a $616,000 HHS IT services contract for “social media monitoring platform subscription”; a $191,000 USAGM broadcasting contract for “broadcast operations and maintenance in Ethiopia, Africa”; and a $4.3 million IRS IT services contract for “Inflation Reduction Act transformation project management support.”

Before this, DOGE's “achievements” were mainly reflected in personnel reductions and paralyzed institutions.

DOGE begins its federal agency reduction efforts by eliminating employees engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion work from all federal agencies, who are placed on administrative leave.

Then, DOGE announced a voluntary “deferred retirement” plan, also known as “Fork in the Road,” offering federal employees the option to resign and continue receiving their salary until the end of September—nearly 75,000 federal employees accepted this proposal in February. Related reading: “After cutting hundreds of millions in contracts, what strange government departments has Musk's D.O.G.E found again?”

The second Trump administration announced approximately 300,000 layoffs of U.S. federal employees, nearly all attributed to DOGE. As of July 14, 2025, CNN tracked at least 128,709 workers who were laid off or targeted for layoffs. As of May 12, The New York Times tracked over 58,500 confirmed cuts, over 76,000 employee buyouts, and over 149,000 other planned reductions; the total cuts accounted for 12% of the 2.4 million civilian federal workforce.

In a blog post released on Friday regarding the federal personnel plan, Kupor stated that the government hired about 68,000 people this year, while 317,000 employees left the government—exceeding Trump's goal of cutting four people for every one hired.

Specifically for each department: The Department of Education will cut nearly 50% of its staff. More than 1,300 positions will be eliminated through RIF—along with about 600 individuals who accepted the “Fork” voluntary resignation proposal or the department's VSIP proposal. The goal of the Department of Veterans Affairs is to “return to our final strength of 399,957 employees in 2019,” which will reduce about 80,000 employees. The Department of Health and Human Services announced significant cuts, stating its intention to eliminate 20,000 positions (, which accounts for 25% of the agency ), half of which they plan to achieve through early retirement, buyouts, and natural attrition.

DOGE is still the driving force behind the many personnel cuts in the federal government this year. Government agencies account for the majority of these layoffs, with 62,530 federal employees being laid off in the first two months of 2025. This is an astonishing increase of 41,311% compared to the same period in 2024.

It's no wonder that the fake news about the “dissolution” of DOGE has emerged, as too many people hope to see this institution that disrupts the power dynamics in Washington disappear.

And now, the story of DOGE may not have truly ended.

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