President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)— famously helmed by Elon Musk — has been decentralized, its functions transferred to the Office of Personnel Management. And while it didn’t deliver on Musk’s promise to realize $1 trillion in budget cuts, it nevertheless served a useful purpose.

DOGE, as the exercise came to be called, claims credit for finding $214 billion in financial savings for the federal government, or more than $1,329 per U.S. taxpayer. Many of the “cuts” represent contracts that were eliminated or reformed ($61 billion), federal grants that were killed ($49 billion) or lease terminations ($113 million).

The department, as was to be expected, ran into fierce criticism from the thicket of special interests that swarm the landscape in Washington, where every government endeavor — no matter how far removed from constitutional principles — is seen as eternal and sacrosanct.

Yet the nation is $37 trillion in debt with no end in sight, regardless of who controls Congress or the White House. Cherished programs such as Social Security remain in imminent financial jeopardy because of this political paralysis and lethargy.

Even if members of one major political party believe that the only way out of this fiscal morass is to reach deeper into the pockets of American wage earners — it isn’t — is it really so beyond the pale to do a deep dive into the nation’s balance sheet in order to root out waste, fraud or duplicative spending?

In fact, it’s only common sense. Even former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, agreed, creating the Simpson-Bowles Commission in 2010 to recommend reforms to put the nation on a more sustainable fiscal course. Its report died on the vine, of course, a victim of the same entrenched forces that denigrated Musk’s efforts. Sooner or later, however, fiscal reality will force change — and, perhaps to the surprise of timorous elected officials — many voters will be eager to accept it.

“The lesson that DOGE can offer future politicians is that they need not be afraid to propose radical ideas,” Eric Boehm wrote for reason.com last week. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Pull out the chain saw, promise to do the crazy thing, and you’ll get people cheering for you — and the people who get angry, well, they were going to be opposed to your ideas anyway.”

Boehm points out that DOGE also inspired copycat efforts in numerous states, including Nevada, to turn a spotlight on spending and investigate innovative ways to trim back the ever-encroaching regulatory state. This should be celebrated, not disdained.

In a statement to Time magazine last week, White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston said the mission of DOGE remains a priority for the White House: “President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment.”

Along those lines, OPM Director Scott Kupor insisted his office will abide by the goals incorporated into DOGE’s mission. “The principles of DOGE remain alive and well,” he said on X. “Deregulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; reshaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first-class citizen.”

That shouldn’t be controversial.

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