Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are pushing back after a Reuters report claimed the high-profile government efficiency unit had effectively ceased to exist months before its charter was set to expire.
Musk blasted the story in a post on X, writing, “Reuters lies relentlessly.”
DOGE issued its own rebuke Monday night, calling the report “fake news” and insisting the program remains active.
Reuters lies relentlessly https://t.co/BpOq8PWTt5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2025
“As usual, this is fake news from @Reuters,” the agency wrote on X. “President [Donald] Trump was given a mandate by the American people to modernize the federal government and reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Just last week, DOGE terminated 78 wasteful contracts and saved taxpayers $335M. We’ll be back in a few days with our regularly scheduled Friday update.”
The pushback comes after Reuters published an exclusive story asserting that DOGE had disbanded eight months ahead of its scheduled end date of July 2026. Citing senior officials and internal documents, the report said the Office of Personnel Management had absorbed many of DOGE’s functions and that the unit “no longer” exists as a centralized entity.
OPM Director Scott Kupor said, “That doesn’t exist,” when asked about DOGE’s current status, later adding that the initiative was no longer a unified agency.
According to the Reuters account, DOGE — launched with major fanfare at the start of Trump’s second term — once operated aggressively across federal agencies, cutting jobs, downsizing programs, and redirecting government functions toward Trump administration priorities. Musk initially led the effort and frequently promoted DOGE’s work on social media, even hoisting a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, declaring, “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.”
The report noted that several former DOGE staff members have since taken on new roles within the administration, including positions at the National Design Studio, a body created in August and led by Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia.
The supposed wind-down stands in contrast to the administration’s earlier messaging, which touted DOGE as a cornerstone of Trump’s promise to root out waste. While Trump has continued to reference the program, he has done so increasingly in the past tense, and officials have acknowledged that key DOGE policies, such as the sweeping federal hiring freeze, have expired.
The White House told Reuters the president remains committed to the mission.
“President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment,” spokeswoman Liz Huston said.
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Despite Reuters’s reporting, DOGE maintains that it is continuing its work and dismissed the news outlet’s story as incorrect. The agency said it would provide its next update later this week.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Reuters for comment.