DOGE shuts down on July Fourth, says mission lives on

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, formally ended its mission to temporarily audit government spending over the holiday weekend. President Donald Trump enacted the initiative aimed at uncovering fraud and waste within the federal government with an executive order in early 2025. The auditing group worked closely with SpaceX owner and founder Elon Musk.

The mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse will continue despite DOGE’s formal mission ending, according to a Saturday statement from the department. Government accountability and responsible tax stewardship are initiatives that will continue across the next 250 years, the statement added. 

Why the shutdown? DOGE was always scheduled to end on July 4, 2026. A smaller, more efficient government will be the perfect gift for America’s semiquincentennial, Trump said when first announcing the initiative in 2025. DOGE’s website as of Monday morning reported $215 billion in savings for the government. By Monday afternoon, the site was no longer active.