Trump Administration Maintains Focus on Efficiency and Spending Cuts

As 2025 concludes, initiatives associated with the Trump administration's "DOGE" agenda remain central to its objectives.

Elon Musk's Reflections on DOGE

Earlier this month, Elon Musk, who previously advised the Trump administration and led DOGE, discussed his involvement on Katie Miller's podcast. Musk described DOGE's work as "somewhat successful" but stated he would not repeat the experience. He noted, "We were somewhat successful. I mean we stopped a lot of funding … that really just made no sense, that was just entirely wasteful."

Musk departed his role with DOGE in May following legal challenges and internal disagreements within the administration. Despite his departure, the administration continues to prioritize the reduction of government spending as a method to decrease the national deficit and streamline bureaucracy.

While many of DOGE's initial objectives regarding efficiency and spending reductions were not fully achieved, the Trump administration maintains its commitment to these goals. The administration is adjusting its strategies towards more incremental and less publicly prominent adjustments to federal agencies.

Federal Workforce and Spending Reductions

Agencies that received directives from DOGE to reduce staff earlier in the year subsequently rehired personnel. Concurrently, the Office of Management and Budget sought further layoffs during the federal government shutdown in October.

By the end of 2025, approximately 317,000 federal employees will have departed government service, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Certain federal agencies and programs, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and portions of the Education Department, underwent significant restructuring or elimination. Despite these reductions and efforts to decrease contracts and terminate leases, federal expenditures continue to exceed revenue.

Prioritization of Spending and Data Consolidation

Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought leads efforts to streamline the federal workforce. Vought has advocated for a smaller federal government, including efforts to enact large-scale workforce reductions at several agencies during the federal government shutdown that began in October and was prevented by court rulings.

During the shutdown, the Trump administration announced multiple rounds of funding reductions targeting programs identified by the president as "Democrat priorities," such as transportation and energy grants. This reflects a prioritization of funding for policies aligned with the administration's agenda and reductions for those not.

DOGE's initiative to consolidate sensitive personal data across federal agencies has withstood legal challenges and is utilized for the administration's immigration enforcement objectives. This includes the transformation of a federal citizenship verification database and requests for states to provide information about federal food aid recipients. Some of these efforts have incorrectly identified U.S. citizens, as previously reported by NPR.

Ongoing Government Restructuring

Even though the DOGE entity has received less public attention since Musk departed the federal government, the focus of its work has persisted. Key personnel associated with Musk and DOGE have transitioned to full-time roles within federal agencies.

An executive order signed by the president on August 21, 2025, established the National Design Studio, tasked with improving the federal government's online systems and websites. Joe Gebbia, an Airbnb co-founder and associate of Musk, serves as the Chief Design Officer for this effort. Gebbia previously directed DOGE's efforts to overhaul and digitize the federal employee retirement system at the Office of Personnel Management.

The studio is responsible for the website for "Trump Accounts," tax-advantaged investment accounts for U.S. children, established by the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed earlier this year. Other projects include the Energy Department's "Genesis Mission" and the "US Tech Force," a two-year program seeking engineers to develop government technology.

National Debt and Federal Spending

One of DOGE's stated objectives was to address the national debt, which increased by over $2.2 trillion between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025, reaching more than $38 trillion. This number is projected to increase by at least an additional $3 trillion over the next decade beyond baseline projections, attributed to the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which enacted tax cuts and new spending initiatives aligned with the administration's priorities.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle stated, "President Trump pledged to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in government, and the Administration is committed to fulfilling this pledge." The White House did not provide a direct response to inquiries regarding government deficit spending or the national debt increase.

From the beginning of the new fiscal year in October to the end of November, the federal government spent approximately $500 billion more than it collected in revenue, a slight decrease compared to the corresponding period last year. The majority of federal spending, approximately 65% this fiscal year, is allocated to Social Security, Medicare, health programs, income security, and veterans' benefits and services. An additional 14% is for national defense, along with interest payments towards the national debt.

DOGE's initiatives did not include these widely supported programs, which would require Congressional approval for modification.