2024-11-13
: Musk Named DOGE Co-Head — President-elect Trump appoints Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with cutting at least $2 trillion from the federal budget.
2025-01-20
: DOGE Created by Executive Order — On his first day back in office, President Trump signs an executive order formally establishing the Department of Government Efficiency, with Elon Musk as its leader.
2025-01-28
: Fork in the Road Email Sent — The Office of Personnel Management emails all 2 million federal employees a "deferred resignation" offer — resign by February 6 and receive pay through September 2025, or return to office full-time.
2025-02-02
: USAID Shutdown Announced — Elon Musk announces on X that USAID — the US foreign aid agency with a $40 billion annual budget — will be shut down and absorbed into the State Department.
2025-02-14
: 25,000 Probationary Workers Fired — DOGE-directed agencies fire approximately 25,000 probationary federal employees — those in their first two years with fewer civil service protections — in a single coordinated wave of terminations.
2025-05-28
: Musk Departs DOGE — Elon Musk announces his departure from the Department of Government Efficiency, saying his "scheduled time as a Special Government Employee" has ended.
2026-04-14
: DOGE Claims $1 Trillion Savings Milestone — Elon Musk announces DOGE has now identified $1 trillion in government savings — but the Congressional Budget Office says it can verify only $135 billion in actual cuts, calling the rest "accounting projections."
2026-04-17
: Court Blocks DOGE SSA Access — A federal judge issues a preliminary injunction barring DOGE from accessing Social Security Administration databases containing personal data on 70 million Americans, ruling that DOGE has not demonstrated a lawful basis for the access.
2026-04-24
: Senate Votes to Hold Musk in Contempt — The full US Senate votes 54-46 to hold Elon Musk in contempt of Congress — with six Republicans joining all Democrats — for defying the Senate Homeland Security Committee's subpoena related to DOGE operations, marking the first Senate contempt vote against a private citizen in a government advisory role and triggering a federal court enforcement action.