A Democratic representative has introduced a bill that seeks to defund Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Representative Sara Jacobs of California introduced the Delete DOGE Act on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Jacobs told Newsweek, “We’re working to build support for the bill across the aisle, especially as Elon Musk targets programs like SNAP, Social Security, and veterans services.”
The legislation would prohibit federal funds from being used for DOGE’s work, rescind unobligated funds currently available to DOGE and restrict any future expenditures or transfers of federal funds for DOGE-related projects or personnel.
Musk’s DOGE has been tasked with slashing spending and shrinking the size of the federal government. The initiative has faced heavy criticism after cutting critical staffing and programs. Earlier this year, Musk said DOGE would make mistakes and would quickly act to fix them.
Newsweek has contacted DOGE for comment via social media.
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Jacobs’ office said in a news release that Musk’s cost-cutting initiative was irresponsible and inefficient, pointing to the firing and rehiring of employees tasked with managing nuclear weapons, the accidental axing of an Ebola prevention initiative, the accidental firing of employees working on the government’s response to bird flu and the firing of employees who answer phones at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ suicide crisis hotline.
The office added that DOGE’s cuts had “slashed essential government functions and fired tens of thousands of federal workers” while Musk’s businesses benefited from at least $38 billion in federal government contracts that were untouched.
“This wholesale firing, this wholesale sort of gutting of these programs—that is not about government efficiency. That is about supposedly finding cuts so that they can fund the tax cuts for billionaires that they really want to pass,” Jacobs said during a recent appearance on MSNBC.
She said she was aware of Republicans in Congress who were concerned about DOGE’s actions and had urged them to “sign on to this bill and then work with us in a bipartisan way, and let’s actually get after these problems that we all want to solve together.”
Cuts to U.S. African Development Foundation
On Monday, DOGE said on X, formerly Twitter, that the U.S. African Development Foundation had canceled $51 million in grants.
According to the initiative, the terminated grants included $229,296 that was used to market 100 percent organic shea butter in Burkina Faso and $239,738 that was spent on marketing pineapple juice in Benin.
DOGE said the grants also included $246,217 for mango drying facilities in the Ivory Coast, $99,566 to increase yogurt production in Uganda and $50,000 to train farmers to grow dragon fruit in Senegal.
How Many Jobs Has DOGE Cut So Far?
Tens of thousands of job losses have been announced across various federal agencies.
Layoffs are underway at the Department of Health and Human Services, which initially announced that it would eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring plan.
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research office and could fire more than 1,000 scientists and other employees, the Associated Press reported.
The IRS also plans to lose 18,000 employees, about 20 percent of its workforce. Last month, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has since resigned, told Congress that the United States Postal Service would cut 10,000 workers.
The Department of Education has announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees, while the Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs, according to an internal memo the AP obtained in March.
The Pentagon reportedly plans to cut its civilian workforce by about 50,000 to 60,000.
At least 24,000 probationary workers have been terminated since President Donald Trump took office in January, according to a lawsuit filed by almost 20 states alleging that the mass firings are illegal. In March, two federal judges ordered 19 federal agencies to reinstate fired probationary workers.
About 75,000 federal workers have accepted the Trump administration’s offer to resign and continue receiving pay and benefits until September 30.
How Much Spending Has DOGE Cut So Far?
DOGE said its efforts have saved the federal government an estimated $140 billion as of March 30. Musk, who heads the department, initially said his goal was to trim $2 trillion from the federal budget. In January, he backtracked, saying there was a “good shot” of cutting half that amount.
DOGE said the receipts provided on its website—showing contract, grant and lease cancellations—represented about 30 percent of total savings, meaning the top-line figure is not yet verifiable.
According to the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker designed by data analyst Brian Banks, the verifiable savings were about $11.7 billion as of April 1, including actual savings from contracts and real estate. The tracker said grants were unlabeled and could not be verified.
Is DOGE a Government Agency?
On January 20, his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order officially creating DOGE to modernize “federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Despite its name, DOGE is not a government agency created by an act of Congress but a task force that targets waste and fraud in the federal government.
