Elon Musk’s exit from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) marks the collapse of a radical experiment in cost-cutting. Designed to slash $2T in federal outlays, DOGE claimed just $175B in realized savings before lawsuits, bureaucracy, and political backlash ground reforms to a halt. Now, with Musk gone and no permanent legislative action, the program sits in limbo—its cultural impact outsized, its fiscal footprint limited.
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Public frustration with waste, however, is still red-hot. A recent Cato poll shows 64% of Americans prefer spending cuts to taxes or debt, and nearly 80% believe the federal government wastes more than half of every dollar it spends. That anger is now being channeled into Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” (BBB)—a sprawling package that extends Trump-era tax cuts, boosts defense and immigration budgets, and expands family credits, but adds $3.8T to the debt through 2035. Even Musk, once its loudest supporter, called the BBB “a disappointment,” saying it sidelines the very fiscal restraint DOGE fought for.
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The administration is scrambling to salvage credibility with a narrow rescissions bill—targeting symbolic programs like NPR, PBS, and foreign aid. But without structural entitlement reform or meaningful adoption of DOGE’s full audit, the debt curve steepens. Investors may be cheering tax relief, but long-term risks are mounting: rising borrowing costs, weaker credit confidence, and policy paralysis in the face of ballooning deficits.
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The chainsaw is gone. Whether a scalpel emerges—or the debt bomb detonates—depends on whether Congress moves past theater and tackles the math. For now, budget discipline is more campaign slogan than governing priority.

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