The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a highly controversial body established in the United States during the administration of Donald Trump, was officially shut down on July 8.

Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), welcomed the termination of the department, stating that the structure left behind no savings and caused immense damage to public services.

Erwin noted that while Donald Trump and Elon Musk implemented massive cuts to public programs under the pretext of achieving budget savings, no savings were ultimately realized.

The NFFE president further stated that during this process, trillions of dollars in tax privileges were instead provided to the wealthiest segments of society.

Emphasizing that the failure to publish a final activity report following the closure of DOGE amounted to an admission of defeat, Erwin offered the following assessment:

“We welcome the end of DOGE, the most destructive government reform initiative of the past century. DOGE has left a deep scar on the federal workforce. It has now become far more difficult to recruit and retain personnel with the talent and experience necessary for agencies to carry out their duties. The American people will have to pay the price for these errors and imprudence for decades.”

New York Times analysis refutes claims

An analysis published by The New York Times in late 2025, which examined federal procurement and contracting records during the first nine months of Trump’s second term, refuted the budget claims made by DOGE.

The analysis revealed that the budget cuts claimed by Musk and Trump did not yield any savings, but may have instead generated additional costs for the public.

As a result of the cuts implemented by Musk and Trump’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russell Vought, who both operated within the framework of DOGE, 317,000 federal employees were terminated.

It was reported that similar cutting and restructuring initiatives are continuing at the Department of Agriculture, while unions continue to resist the process.

In early 2025, Musk and Trump had promised to secure $2 trillion in savings by combating budget irregularities, waste, and abuse. However, by the end of the process, the officially claimed savings amount stood at just $215 billion—only one-tenth of the projected target.

Analysts determined that it remains unclear how much of this amount was actually cut from genuine waste categories, noting that the vast majority of the reductions stemmed from the salary budgets of terminated personnel who had been administering critical public services.

The New York Times team wrote that DOGE failed to reach its target of reducing federal spending by $1 trillion before October 2025, and that federal spending actually increased rather than decreased during this period.

According to the analysis, 28 of the 40 largest cuts claimed by DOGE, including the two highest-budget items, turned out to be completely false.

It was determined that these two contracts, which concerned aircraft maintenance and information technology, had a combined value of $7.9 billion and remained fully in effect.

These two items reportedly accounted for a larger budget than the total of the other 29,000 cuts claimed by DOGE.

Terminated employees establish tent city

Following the layoffs, affected federal employees established a tent city in front of Union Station in Washington.

Gathering under the umbrella of an organization called the Federal Unionists Network (FUN), the former public employees established a support center there for shelter, solidarity, and job search assistance.

A statement published on the organization’s website read: “We are here to unite the federal workforce, protect vital services, and defend the public we serve.”

GAO already combats waste

Randy Erwin pointed out that the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an official and bipartisan agency tasked with combating waste and abuse within the federal government, has already been active for many years.

Consequently, he emphasized that there was never any need for a parallel structure like DOGE.

According to one of the latest reports published by the GAO, a gap of $186 billion emerged in the federal budget due to “improper payments,” irregularities, and waste during the 2025 fiscal year, which ended on September 30.

More than 73% of this amount occurred across five key areas: Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP (food assistance), the earned income tax credit, and pandemic-era small business support programs.

The GAO report indicated that between $132 billion and $251 billion in additional savings could be achieved through measures ranging from streamlining the Navy’s shipbuilding processes to preventing duplicate payments in the social security system, though this would require congressional approval.

It was reported that during its operational period, DOGE dismissed or placed on paid leave thousands of federal employees, but because the services performed by this personnel were of critical importance, they later had to be rehired.

This situation was found to have resulted in a major waste of taxpayer funds rather than savings for the public budget.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice have established a joint task force as part of efforts to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information to the public.

Hegseth stated that the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) of the Department of Defense will have the authority to request and receive all information, support, and records across the Pentagon related to media leak investigations.

The Defense Secretary noted that all departments and personnel within the ministry will prioritize these requests. He added that a complete and comprehensive response to any instruction issued by the OGC under this authority must be provided within two days of the submission of the request.

“Leaked information risks lives. These new tools and processes will greatly assist us in protecting our collective strength. Our nation’s security cannot be a bargaining chip for those chasing instant headlines,” Hegseth said in an approximately two-and-a-half-minute video message published on the social media platform X.

Hegseth also stated, “Access to classified and confidential information is a sacred trust, and those who betray this trust will face the full force of the law.”

The announcement of the task force came a few days after the Department of Justice issued subpoenas to four New York Times reporters. The journalists, summoned to testify before a federal grand jury, had reported on security concerns regarding President Donald Trump’s flight to Türkiye for a NATO summit on an aircraft donated by Qatar.

The subpoenas drew sharp criticism from The New York Times and press freedom advocates. Opponents argue that the government is attempting to intimidate news organizations.

“Our journalists report the facts and defend the American public’s right to know how their government operates and how taxpayer dollars are spent,” New York Times attorney David McCraw said in a statement. “This brazen action is nothing less than an attempt to deter journalists from doing their jobs, thereby preventing the public from learning what is happening in the country.”

Hegseth has been taking steps to prevent leaks to the press since the beginning of his tenure at the Pentagon. Last year, the department launched investigations into personnel alleged to have leaked classified information to the media and threatened to administer polygraph tests.

Leak allegations were also directed at some of Hegseth’s advisers last year. Former senior adviser Dan Caldwell and former deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick are among those individuals. Caldwell, Selnick, and Colin Carroll, the former chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen A. Feinberg, were first suspended and subsequently dismissed from their positions and removed from the Pentagon as part of the internal leak investigation.

A government official, speaking to The Hill in mid-March, stated there was no evidence that Caldwell, who began working at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) earlier this year, had leaked information from the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Hegseth has previously been the target of criticism himself for allegedly sharing sensitive information. Last year, Hegseth discussed planned US strikes against the Houthis in Yemen in a Signal group chat to which an editor of The Atlantic magazine had been mistakenly added. A report published in December by the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General determined that Hegseth had compromised military security and violated department policy by using the Signal application on his personal mobile phone.

“It is highly ironic that Hegseth himself shared sensitive national defense information with his wife over Signal last year and faced no consequences, yet now speaks of the need to protect this information,” said former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot. “In 2012, CIA Director David Petraeus resigned from his post for a similar situation involving his girlfriend, and was sentenced in federal court to two years of probation and a $10,000 fine.”

Ullyot, who also served as the spokesperson for the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, told The Hill on Monday: “The President deserves better from his national security leaders. Hegseth should start holding himself accountable before holding others accountable.”

Reporters have been largely blocked from entering the Pentagon after Hegseth revoked access to most of the facility. Pentagon correspondents returned their press credentials in October, refusing to sign a new media policy that required a commitment not to solicit unauthorized materials.

Hegseth and his supporters argue that the policy will protect national security by preventing the leak of classified information. Press freedom groups and critics, conversely, characterize the practice as a violation of the constitutional rights of journalists.

Most recently, the department further restricted press access by declaring the Pentagon building a classified space and banning journalists from entering.

Offering historical references in his statement on Monday, Hegseth said, “Leaking sensitive national defense information and secrets is a betrayal of the men and women who wear the uniform of our country. This is a principle as old as the history of warfare, reaching back to the founding of our republic in the United States. George Washington himself combated leaks, insider threats, and espionage.”

Shares of the American aerospace company SpaceX fell to as low as $136.78 at the trough of the trading session on Monday, July 13, representing a 5.87% decline compared to the close of trading on July 10. According to data from the US-based NASDAQ exchange, this retreat marks a depreciation of approximately 40% from the company’s historic peak of $225.64, which was recorded on June 16. With this latest decline, the company’s shares have approached their initial public offering (IPO) price threshold of $135.

As of 21:25 Moscow time on the trading day in question, the shares continued to trade at $137.4, down 5.4%.

The downward trend in the shares was driven by reports that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had concluded its investigation into the emergencies and malfunctions during the May 22 launch of Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket model developed by SpaceX.

According to CNBC, the agency reviewed and approved the findings and corrective measures submitted by the company following its internal investigation into the incident.

The Starship project, a massive, reusable rocket designed to carry crew and cargo to the Moon and Mars and to perform other space missions, is considered one of the most critical elements of Elon Musk’s space program.

In a statement issued by the FAA, it was noted that following the approved corrective actions, SpaceX is permitted to begin preparations for the Starship Flight 13 flight, provided that the company meets all safety requirements and licensing conditions.

The FAA had previously issued a statement regarding the malfunction during the launch attempt at the end of May. The statement noted: “The anomaly occurred during the Super Heavy booster’s flip maneuver over the Gulf of America.”

The region referred to as the Gulf of America by US authorities in official correspondence is commonly known as the Gulf of Mexico.

According to official data, the booster parts fell within the boundaries of pre-established hazard areas. Six flights were delayed and five aircraft remained in holding patterns for a period due to the incident, though no changes were made to flight routes.

SpaceX shares, which began trading on the NASDAQ exchange at the beginning of June, gained 25% at the opening. As part of the initial public offering, the company offered 555.6 million shares for sale at a fixed price of $135 per share.

The SpaceX IPO was recorded as the largest initial public offering in financial history. The company initially raised $75 billion, and the total funds raised reached $85.7 billion after consortium members exercised their over-allotment option to purchase an additional 83.3 million shares.

In a statement to his employees, company founder Elon Musk stated that going public was necessary to generate capital during a phase of rapid growth. It was announced that the proceeds would be used to complete the development process of the Starship rockets, bring them to commercial readiness, and expand the Starlink satellite network.

The post-IPO surge in SpaceX shares had briefly made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Bloomberg had estimated Musk’s wealth at $1.05 trillion, while Forbes valued it at $1.1 trillion.

However, with the decline in share prices and the company’s market value that began in late June, Musk lost his trillionaire title after holding it for 12 days.

According to an analysis by Bloomberg, the decline was driven by SpaceX’s preparations to issue at least $20 billion in bonds to finance artificial intelligence projects, alongside the signing of a multi-billion-dollar agreement with AI startup Reflection AI to provide computing resources.

Assessments by S&P Global projected that SpaceX will continue to incur expenditures without generating revenue until at least 2029.