Less than a year after it was born, DOGE has officially lost its center.
Scott Kupor, the director of the Office of Personnel Management, pushed back against a recent article from Reuters quoting him as saying DOGE “doesn’t exist” and is not a “centralized entity” anymore.
Kupor, whose agency handles human resources for the government, said that the outlet misrepresented his quotes and that DOGE’s main goals continue to guide Trump’s agenda, even if its central office is gone.
“DOGE may not have centralized leadership under USDS,” he said in a post on Sunday. “But, the principles of DOGE remain alive and well: de-regulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; re-shaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first-class citizen; etc.” He included a link to a recent OPM blog post on reducing headcount and adjusting hiring priorities.
Trump issued an executive order shortly after taking office that rebranded the US Digital Service as the US DOGE Service, effectively bringing the cost-cutting initiative inside the White House. DOGE staffers didn’t just work at the USDS, but fanned out across agencies, and it appears they still work at some of them. Some former staffers have moved to new roles within the federal government, per Reuters.
“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,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Business Insider in a statement.
Under Elon Musk’s original vision for DOGE, the group would disband no later than July 4, 2026. Musk has since stepped away from his role as the group’s public face, instead focusing more on his private companies.
During the recent government shutdown, none of the 45 DOGE staffers employed by the White House were furloughed.
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