A year after the Trump administration's aggressive cost-cutting campaign targeted federal employees, questions remain about the true impact and savings generated by the effort. Among those caught in the upheaval was Thea Price, a former program operations manager at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), who experienced firsthand the chaos and uncertainty resulting from the administration's push to shrink government.
In early 2025, as part of President Donald Trump's drive to reduce the size of the federal government, Price and more than 300 other USIP employees were abruptly fired. The institute, a congressionally funded nonprofit focused on peacebuilding in conflict zones worldwide, became a symbol of the turmoil unleashed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Led by then-Trump adviser Elon Musk, DOGE's mission was to root out fraud, waste, and abuse through sweeping agency purges, job cuts, and program shutdowns.
The impact on USIP staff was immediate and jarring. On March 28, 2025, termination notices were sent out en masse, leaving employees stunned. Price recalls the devastation: "Nobody was prepared for the complete destruction. And for what?" The firings triggered legal battles, with USIP leaders arguing that the institute was independent of the executive branch and therefore immune to such actions. Initially, a federal judge ruled in favor of USIP, reinstating the staff and returning control of the institute. However, this decision was later stayed by an appeals court, leading to a second round of layoffs pending a potential U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential authority over independent federal agencies.
The legal limbo has left many former employees in professional and financial uncertainty. Price, who had just returned from maternity leave when first fired, and her husband, who lost his museum contractor job due to funding cuts, struggled to make ends meet. They applied for government assistance programs such as SNAP, but faced delays and disruptions, including during a government shutdown. Eventually, they relocated from the Washington, D.C., area to Seattle. Price now works for a nonprofit focused on affordable housing, finding the work meaningful but still mourning the loss of USIP's mission and community.
Others share similar stories. Liz Callihan, who worked in communications at USIP, has applied for over 140 jobs since being laid off and frequently questions the rationale behind targeting an organization with a modest $50 million annual budget dedicated to peace efforts. "I absolutely ask myself every day what all this was for," she said.
The turmoil at USIP reflects broader consequences of DOGE's sweeping reforms. Over 260,000 federal workers left government service in 2025 due to layoffs, early retirements, resignations, and a hiring freeze, according to the Office of Management and Budget. DOGE claimed savings of roughly $215 billion through job cuts, contract cancellations, asset sales, and rescinded grants, with Musk setting an ambitious target of $2 trillion.
Yet, despite these claims, independent analysts and watchdog groups question the validity of the reported savings. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a congressional oversight agency, and think tanks like the Cato Institute and Brookings Institution have examined DOGE's efforts but found it difficult to verify the numbers. Dominik Lett, a Cato budget analyst, pointed to errors in DOGE's savings calculations and stressed that the complexity of the cuts-such as who was fired, the resulting lawsuits, and contract terminations-makes precise accounting challenging. "We don't know how much DOGE has saved," he said.
Elaine Kamarck of Brookings noted that many employees laid off were later rehired because their roles were essential, undermining some of the intended savings. She estimated that total savings might fall between $100 billion and $200 billion but acknowledged the uncertainty in final figures. The GAO found specific examples of costs associated with DOGE's layoffs, including a $38 million expense related to terminations in the Education Department's civil rights division, where employees continued to receive pay after being fired.
The fallout from DOGE's initiatives has also sparked multiple lawsuits challenging various aspects of the reforms, ranging from mass firings and grant cancellations to access to sensitive Treasury data and the closure of large federally funded programs. The legal battles continue to unfold, contributing to ongoing instability for affected workers and agencies.
Musk himself reflected on the effort in a December interview, describing his leadership of DOGE as only "somewhat successful" and expressing reluctance to undertake such a campaign again. Although DOGE's public profile has diminished, its influence persists, with former DOGE officials securing permanent roles in federal agencies, including the Treasury Department.
USIP's history underscores the stakes involved. Created during the Reagan administration to promote peace and prevent conflict, the institute operated in over two dozen conflict zones, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, before its abrupt dismantling. DOGE's takeover of USIP's headquarters and replacement of its leadership illustrated the administration's willingness to disrupt established institutions in pursuit of efficiency.
For many federal workers like Thea Price and Liz Callihan, the past year has been a period marked by uncertainty, upheaval, and reflection on the human cost of government downsizing. While the Trump administration touts significant progress in eliminating waste and improving efficiency, the true financial savings and long-term impact of DOGE's sweeping reforms remain unclear. As legal disputes continue and former employees navigate the aftermath, the question lingers: was the disruption worth the purported gains?