“The swamp won”: Republicans lament loss of Elon Musk’s DOGE

Republicans are sending their condolences to the newly shuttered Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which quietly ceased operations over the weekend, eight months ahead of schedule.

Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor reported that the Elon Musk-run DOGE “doesn’t exist” when asked by Reuters about the department’s status. “There is no target around reductions,” Kuport said, indicating that a government hiring freeze championed by DOGE is no longer in effect.

Some celebrated the end while others eulogized the program, which was originally slated to end July 4, 2026. “DOGE fought the Swamp and the Swamp won,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican and longtime supporter of DOGE, wrote on X.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., blamed the closure on “dark money NGOs,” suggesting that influential political forces in Washington forced Musk to abandon his vision of hack-and-slash spending cuts. Some of these cuts, including the dismantling of USAID, has resulted in the deaths of 600,000 people, according to some estimates.

‘I think he was getting too close,” Burchett said of Musk on The Benny Show. “He was right on it … That’s exactly what happened.”

Some of the blame also extended to President Donald Trump, who some saw as not giving enough support to DOGE. “It was never going to amount to much more than a marketing gimmick without a president actually serious about cutting spending,” said former Republican representative Justin Amash.

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Conservative activist Robby Starbuck said ending DOGE was “a mistake” and that its mission “is not yet finished.”

“DOGE should never be shut down,” Starbuck wrote on social media.

Kupor said that “the principles of DOGE remain alive and well” in the Trump administration. “De-regulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; re-shaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first-class citizen; etc,” Kupor wrote on X. “DOGE catalyzed these changes.”