Dogecoin symbol makes it to the White House: From 294 days of political memes to the end of the experiment

An Experiment in Meme Governance

In early 2025, something stirred up quite a sensation in Washington — a government agency named DOGE, after the dog-themed cryptocurrency, bringing the reckless spirit of Silicon Valley and the restlessness of the crypto community into the traditional political system. Just 294 days later, it quietly exited the stage of history.

This time span is just like the fleeting meme coins that briefly bloom in the crypto world. From inception to disbandment, DOGE nearly became a complete case of symbolic economy invading real politics.

The Political Magic of Shiba Inu and Chainsaws

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order to establish this department on his first day in office. The name was no accident — the Dogecoin code was directly incorporated into the government department’s name, and Shiba Inu images are everywhere on the official website. Crypto insiders immediately recognized what was happening — a game.

Elon Musk, a die-hard fan of Dogecoin, directly embedded meme culture into politics this time. He posted a photo holding a chainsaw on social media with the caption “Chainsaw prepared for bureaucraticism.” This style echoes his promotion of Dogecoin — aggressive, playful, full of internet culture.

Traditional government agencies emphasize seriousness, norms, and rigidity, but DOGE broke these conventions from the start. The website design is full of crypto elements, and its operational mode is completely unlike that of a government department. What was the effect? It gained recognition among the younger generation and internet natives, creating enough public buzz.

Silicon Valley Startups Enter the White House

DOGE’s way of operation resembles a Silicon Valley startup more than a traditional administrative body. Musk recruited about 50 young people in their twenties, nicknamed “Doll Soldiers” by outsiders.

Dressed in hoodies and jeans, fueled by Red Bull, they hustled between federal agencies daily. Within three weeks, they had placed personnel, controlled funds, and screened projects across major agencies — the efficiency was remarkable.

AI became their core tool. From contract allocations to employee travel reimbursements, everything was data-driven. AI quickly identified wasteful resources, such as idle government office buildings, which were immediately vacated, saving $150 million. This spirit of “rapid iteration and breaking conventions” sparked huge conflicts in Washington — they required employees to submit weekly reports, and failure to do so was treated as resignation; absences were directly handled as administrative leave. Such methods work in startups but cause trouble in government agencies.

The Gap Between Narrative and Reality

When DOGE was first established, its goals were grand. Musk claimed to cut $2 trillion from federal budgets, and Ramachandran even proposed to optimize 70% of federal employees — numbers that resemble exaggerated hype common in the crypto world, aimed at attracting attention and generating buzz.

But reality is always cruel. In the end, DOGE claimed to have cut about $160 billion, less than one-fifth of its initial target. There was a huge disconnect between the grand narrative and actual implementation.

What’s even more painful is that, according to a report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), DOGE “wasted” over $21 billion in six months. The Department of Energy’s loan programs were frozen, resulting in about $263 million in lost interest income; the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shut down, and roughly $110 million worth of food and medicine rotted in warehouses…

This rough handling provoked backlash from various sides. Democratic attorneys general in 14 states sued Musk and Trump, accusing them of violating constitutional provisions. DOGE faced nearly 20 lawsuits, ranging from privacy violations to unauthorized access to sensitive government data, one after another.

The End of the White House Meme

In May this year, Musk announced his resignation from DOGE, and publicly broke with Trump over the “Big and Beautiful Act.” By summer, DOGE personnel had already withdrawn from headquarters one after another, and security posts and access authorization signs disappeared.

The Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Scott Cooper, officially confirmed this month that DOGE no longer exists. Its functions have been taken over by the Office of Personnel Management, and the large-scale government-wide hiring freeze previously in place has been ended.

Members of the DOGE team were reassigned within other government positions. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia now heads the National Design Studio, and Zakary Treil became the CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services. What does this mean? The experimental phase of DOGE is over, but some of its ideas have been integrated into traditional government structures, surviving in a more moderate form.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis commented directly on social media: “DOGE fought the swamp, but the swamp won.” This political meme coin experiment ultimately ended in the victory of the traditional political establishment.

The Practical Lessons of Symbolic Economy

The infiltration of symbolic economy into traditional politics is an irreversible trend. DOGE’s emergence marks a deep integration of politics and crypto culture, and in the future, we may see more political institutions with “crypto-native” characteristics.

But the key question remains: how to combine the innovative spirit of the crypto world with the stability of traditional governance, achieving both symbolic appeal and substantive effectiveness?

Narratives are indeed powerful tools for building consensus, but if they detach from technological implementation and value creation, they are ultimately just castles in the air. When meme symbols fade in popularity, what truly remains in history are the technologies and projects that solve real problems. This principle applies in the crypto world and equally on the political stage.