What Is DOGE Without Elon Musk?

In May, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, lost its architect and de facto leader, Elon Musk. But without Musk, who brandished a literal chainsaw as a symbol of the group’s aggressive cost-cutting program, the Trump administration is continuing to make cuts — and quietly insinuating DOGE into the fabric of government.

Musk left government and publicly cut ties with President Donald Trump over the deficit impact of Trump’s signature tax-and-spending bill. But DOGE lives on as a decentralized collection of federal employees and consultants in the White House, the budget office, and dozens of federal departments and agencies — all still tasked with identifying places to cut spending.