GAO Says DOGE Overstated Savings by Billions

Key Points:

• The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative led by Elon Musk to cut federal spending, significantly overstated its claimed savings, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation.
• DOGE claimed $215 billion in savings by January 2026 but failed to update its figures for the last six months before ceasing operations on July 4, 2026, with many reported savings unverified or already in progress before DOGE’s establishment.
• The GAO found that $110 billion of DOGE’s savings came from contracts, grants, and leases, including leases that were already being phased out, and that nearly 2,000 government contracts DOGE claimed to have terminated were not actually canceled.
• More than half of the $61 billion in contract savings DOGE reported could not be verified or were not canceled, and DOGE did not follow its stated methodology for 96% of grant savings, raising questions about the accuracy and transparency of its reporting.
• Critics, including Senator Gary Peters, accused DOGE and the Trump administration of taking credit for unsubstantiated savings and risking sensitive data, while the White House stated that all employees were required to complete ethics training and follow financial disclosure rules.