Elon Musk's DOGE revolution ends as Washington rebuilds what was cut: Was it a success or disaster?

The Trump administration quietly marked the country’s 250th anniversary by quietly declaring independence from the Elon Musk-led cost-cutting project that wreaked havoc across the federal government during President Donald Trump’s first months back in office last year. The Department of Government Efficiency officially blinked out of existence Saturday in accordance with the executive order that mandated it would “terminate” on July 4, 2026. It leaves in its wake an estimated $11 billion hole in the federal budget paid to workers who accepted the Musk-authored “Fork in the Road” offer to do nothing for nine months before officially resigning while being paid full salaries and benefits during that period, plus a gutted U.S. Agency for International Development that has left key foreign aid programs shuttered and contributed to the deaths of millions across the globe.