US Governance — 2026-05-05

Musk Curtails DOGE Role as Savings Fall Far Short of Targets While Government Spending Rises

Federal outlays in the first eleven months of 2025 totaled approximately $7.6 trillion, about $248 billion above the same period in 2024, per Cato Institute analysis of Monthly Treasury Statements. DOGE eliminated approximately 271,000 federal positions, a nine-percent decline Cato describes as the largest peacetime workforce reduction since Korean War demobilizations, without producing a corresponding reduction in outlays. In a January deposition cited by Fortune, DOGE staffer Nate Cavanaugh told attorneys the agency failed to reduce the federal deficit. Musk described the effort as "only a little bit successful" and said he would not repeat it, per Cato; OPM head Scott Kupor separately told the Washington Post the reductions were "overdone" and that the administration plans to rehire some positions.

Analysis
Targeting federal headcount rather than mandatory spending was never going to move the deficit: Social Security, Medicare, and debt service dwarf discretionary payroll, and the $248B outlay increase alongside 271,000 eliminations, per Cato's Treasury Statement analysis, is predictable, not paradoxical. Cavanaugh's deposition admission, Musk's own "only a little bit successful" assessment, and Kupor's "overdone" framing converge on coordinated institutional retreat rather than isolated dissent. The reductions may have functioned primarily as a political signal to fiscal conservatives, rendering the spending outcome beside the point. Musk's formal departure from DOGE-affiliated roles is unlikely within the next six months; reduced public visibility is the lower-cost exit over a formal resignation that concedes failure.

3 sources

Elon Musks DOGE tally federal workforce down government spending up - Yahoo Finance
DOGE Produced the Largest Peacetime Workforce Cut on Record but Spending Kept Rising - Cato Institute
DOGE staffer says agency was unable to lower federal deficit - Fortune