DOGE employees who landed in environmental agencies in the early days of the Trump administration have departed from their government gigs as the bureaucracy-slashing operation has dwindled.
A trio of “Department of Government Efficiency” members who worked to cut programs at EPA is out. A central player in DOGE’s work to overhaul the Interior Department recently stepped down from that agency. The head of the government’s human resources agency was recently quoted saying DOGE “doesn’t exist,” although he later sought to clarify, saying the “principles of DOGE remain alive and well.”
The DOGE operation isn’t entirely gone from President Donald Trump’s government, but it has a diminished role following the departures of its early leader Elon Musk and his acolytes installed in federal agencies. The exits of key DOGE officials from environmental agencies are the latest indication that the operation has taken a backseat in the Trump administration following Musk’s departure in the spring.
Members of the DOGE team who were assigned to EPA early this year — Kathryn Loving, Erica Jehling and Cole Killian — have “departed EPA,” an agency spokesperson said in an email in response to questions about DOGE’s status there.
