Despite the billionaire’s pledge to modernize and be efficient, what remains is a mess that will take Washington a long time to sort out.

Billionaire Elon Musk officially left his role in the Trump administration on Wednesday night (May 28), ending a controversial and unpopular period.

Despite his promise to modernize the government with the Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has left behind a trail of uncertainty and diminished functionality.

Billionaire Elon Musk has had a controversial tenure as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

From the budget-saving plan

Elon Musk’s original goal when founding DOGE was to save $2 trillion by eliminating waste and fraud and modernizing government software to improve efficiency. However, DOGE has so far only claimed to have saved about $140 billion, a figure that is suspected to be inflated.

President Donald Trump’s new tax bill, while not included in DOGE’s scope and opposed by Musk, is expected to add $2.3 trillion to the deficit, making DOGE’s savings irrelevant. Promises of modern software often end up in AI chatbots, some of which have already been deployed during the Biden administration.

When he left, Musk left behind a number of unfinished projects and struggling federal agencies in the hands of his close associates. His departure left the future of the DOGE task force unclear, with questions about the group’s power and who would be able to restore programs that had been affected.

On DOGE’s social impact

Rather than focusing solely on budget savings, DOGE had a broader impact by cutting or eliminating many government services and humanitarian aid. The cuts targeted key agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization—which handles weather forecasting and disaster response—and left the Department of Veterans Affairs in a difficult position.

Many smaller agencies, such as the agency that coordinates homelessness policy, were even shut down entirely. DOGE leaves many questions about whether Musk’s appointees will be able to maintain, improve, or shut down these services.

In an early example of the cuts and the holes they create in government, DOGE targeted the government technology group that partners with federal agencies to provide technology solutions, known as 18F.

Former 18F director Lindsay Young, who is currently appealing, argued that 18F’s firings violated legal requirements, and worried that DOGE’s cuts would have a lasting impact on government functions.

“In government, it’s much easier to tear things down than it is to build things up,” Young said.

The mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services also represent a loss of institutional knowledge that DOGE appears to have no intention of replacing.

“The loss of so much expertise, especially in health care, will mean that many Americans will get sick or die sooner than expected,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. “It could also take years and cost a lot of resources to restore that experience and expertise.”

Musk’s cuts to USAID, formerly the world’s largest humanitarian aid provider, are one of the most glaring examples of the chaos and damage DOGE’s cuts have caused. The US has eliminated about 83% of USAID’s programs, jeopardizing services around the world that aim to provide humanitarian assistance and prevent disease.

DOGE Remains Powerful in Government

While Elon Musk has left the administration, many of the young employees and engineers he recruited into the DOGE force still hold roles in the federal government. This raises concerns that they may continue to have access to sensitive data and maintain the power they had under Musk, despite their lack of experience and uncertainty about their next direction.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Musk’s departure was official as of Wednesday evening (May 28) and stressed that DOGE’s mission will continue under the leadership of other cabinet members.

Some of Doge’s key figures, such as billionaire investor Antonio Gracias – a close ally of Musk – have been involved in key agencies such as Social Security and the Federal Aviation Administration. They operate as a parallel force to the government, but lack transparency and disrupt the system by interfering with databases.

Not to mention, after Elon Musk left Washington, some of his iconic directives – such as requiring federal employees to report “five things completed each week” – were quickly rescinded. The Pentagon has officially announced that it will stop this activity.

DOGE, however, is not falling into a power vacuum, according to the Wall Street Journal, Tesla CEO Russ Vought, a hard-line conservative, has continued the policy of drastic cuts.

Even without Musk, his allies still control sensitive data and continue to controversially purge the apparatus.