What is DOGE? Here’s what to know about Elon Musk’s latest cost-cutting efforts.

CBS NEWS

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Alain Sherter

February 12, 2025

The White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was created by President Trump on Jan. 20 with a mission to slash federal spending. Since then, the task force led by billionaire Elon Musk says it has saved more than $1 billion by canceling diversity, equity and inclusion contracts, among other expenses, according to DOGE’s social media account.

But since kicking into gear on Jan. 20, DOGE has also prompted several lawsuits and raised alarms from Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates after it gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, which stores personal data for most Americans.

Musk also added that “some of the things that I say will be incorrect,” referencing a false claim that the U.S. was planning to send tens of millions of dollars worth of condoms to Gaza.

“We are moving fast, so we will make mistakes, but we will fix the mistakes very quickly,” Musk said.

Critics of the task force say that Musk, who runs companies including SpaceX that receive billions in government contracts, could be engaged in work through DOGE that may pose conflicts of interest with his private businesses, such as potentially gaining access to data about competitors’ federal contracts.

A Feb. 3 lawsuit filed by two unions and an advocacy group for older Americans alleges that the Treasury Department has unlawfully provided Musk and DOGE with the private personal data of most U.S. taxpayers

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