By Investing.com — The Trump administration announced on Tuesday the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a committee led by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk tasked with providing recommendations to the White House and Office of Management and Budget on areas to reduce federal spending.
However, as cutting government jobs or funding is ultimately the responsibility of Congress, any actual cuts resulting from DOGE’s recommendations could take years to implement due to the current bipartisan landscape, according to GLJ Research.
Trump has indicated that the committee will complete its work by July 4, 2026, suggesting the likelihood of immediate action on cuts is slim.
GLJ clarified that DOGE is not a Cabinet-level department, despite some media reports; establishing it as such would require Congressional approval.
“Rather, it’s a Blue-Ribbon committee that will advise Congress on what to do spending wise, with no guarantees Congress will actually follow through,” the research firm noted.
Musk previously said he would use the DOGE commission to reduce federal spending by as much as $2 trillion, a figure that far exceeds the available $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending, of which $805 billion is defense-related.
Commenting on this, GLJ said that Musk has “once again made promises that are mathematically impossible.”
“This suggests, strongly, E. Musk has no idea how the appropriations process works,” it added.
Summarizing its take on this, GLJ describes DOGE as “a toothless committee formed to make a few billionaires feel important.”
“And, those in the media reporting E. Musk is about to cut government jobs are trafficking in misinformation,” the firm added.
It emphasized that the DOGE does not grant Musk or Ramaswamy the authority to cut US government jobs.
GLJ said its government sources believe that Trump’s statement that DOGE’s work will wrap up by July 4, 2026 further indicates that it is highly unlikely any jobs will ultimately be eliminated as a result of the committee’s recommendations.
