Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Updates | February 25, 2025

As of February 25, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has overseen significant reductions in the federal workforce. Reports indicate that more than 200,000 federal employees across over a dozen agencies have been laid off since President Donald Trump’s second term began.

A substantial portion of these layoffs occurred around February 14, 2025, with approximately 30,000 civil service workers affected.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance leading to the termination of most of the estimated 200,000 employees who were within their probationary period, resulting in widespread job losses across various departments.

Notably, some agencies have reversed certain layoffs. For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), rescinded some terminations shortly after they were issued, indicating ongoing adjustments in response to the evolving situation.

In addition, on February 25, 2025, 21 civil service employees, holdovers from the US Digital Services Office, which merged into DOGE, resigned en masse. In their joint resignation letter, these DOGE employees opposed the dismantling of critical public services. These employees were engineers, data scientists and product managers, many of whom came from private sector companies like Google and Amazon. | AP News

Estimated Savings

DOGE has claimed savings of approximately US$55 billion since its inception, primarily targeting agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Education.

Various sources have questioned this estimate as follows:

NPR Analysis: An investigation by NPR found that DOGE’s reported savings are inconsistent and often lack verifiable data. In some instances, the claimed savings are based on canceled contracts where funds had already been spent or legally committed, resulting in no actual savings. | NPR

CNN Report: CNN highlighted that DOGE’s savings claims are inflated, with nearly 40% of the 1,125 scrapped federal contracts not resulting in any savings. Some contracts were misrepresented, such as a US$8 million contract being reported as US$8 billion. | CNN

Politico Findings: Politico identified numerous errors in DOGE’s reported data, including duplicated contracts totaling at least US$325 million in claimed savings. These inaccuracies suggest that the actual savings are significantly lower than reported. | Politico

Bloomberg Analysis: Bloomberg’s data journalists have scrutinized DOGE’s numbers and found that the claimed US$55 billion in savings doesn’t align with the available data, indicating potential overstatements. | Bloomberg

Fortune Report: Fortune reported that while DOGE asserts it has saved US$55 billion, the itemized data provided shows a much lower figure, casting doubt on the accuracy of the claimed savings. | Fortune

Court Decisions

Recent court decisions have significantly impacted the operations of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its leader, Elon Musk.

Access to Sensitive Data

• Education Department and Office of Personnel Management (OPM): On February 24, 2025, US District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a temporary restraining order preventing DOGE from accessing sensitive personal information held by the Department of Education and OPM. This decision came after labor unions such as the American Federation of Teachers and federal employee groups argued that sharing such data without consent likely violated the Privacy Act.
• Treasury Department Systems: In a separate case, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly expressed concerns about the constitutionality of DOGE and Musk’s role within it. She imposed temporary restrictions on DOGE’s access to Treasury Department systems that manage trillions of dollars in payments, questioning whether DOGE’s structure violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

Employee Relations

• Federal Worker Ultimatum: Elon Musk issued an email demanding federal employees justify their positions or face termination. DOGE requested an email outlining each employees top 5 actions in the last week and stated no response would be considered a resignation. In response, the US Office of Personnel Management and several agencies such as Defense, State and the FBI advised that employees are not obligated to comply with Musk’s directive.

As of February 25, 2025, the Trump administration has not officially rescinded the ultimatum requiring federal employees to justify their positions or face termination. However, the situation has evolved with conflicting directives and legal interventions. The White House has claimed that they have received approximately one million email responses to this request, about one-third of the Federal workforce.