The Department of Government Efficiency consistently overstated its savings, took credit for leases canceled before the group existed and said others were terminated when they were not, according to an Aug. 6 report released by a congressional government watchdog office.
When President Donald Trump returned to office, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was given broad powers to look for potential savings across government, canceling leases, trimming government programs and instituting mass layoffs of federal employees.
DOGE quickly made grand assertions about the savings it earned taxpayers — but the Government Accountability Office’s report found much of those never came to pass.
The scope of DOGE’s accomplishments has long been questioned, most notably the accuracy of a “Wall of Receipts” the agency posted online announcing $110 billion in savings across contracts, grants and leases in its first few months.
What the Watchdog Found
“Some savings estimates are incorrect or lack supporting evidence,” said the GAO, which is tasked with providing Congress fact-based, nonpartisan information about federal spending and performance.
The White House did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for comment.
DOGE officials did not respond to the GAO’s requests for information, according to the report. The agency fell out of the headlines in May 2025 when its leader — Trump supporter Elon Musk — stepped down. DOGE ceased operations in July.
Of the $110 billion DOGE asserted to have saved, the GAO said it found solid support for only 4% of that. It also found 108 of the 264 leases identified for termination on the Wall of Receipts — totaling about $15.3 million of the total $53.5 million in savings — were already in the process of being terminated when DOGE’s work began.
Examples of Unsupported Savings
In other instances, DOGE statements about savings never came true. For example, DOGE said it got the Defense Department’s health agency to end a $1.7 billion technology contract, but GAO investigators said the contract was never cut or reduced.
“Thus, no savings were achieved,” the GAO report said.
DOGE’s website remains online as a source of official government information. The GAO recommended the Executive Office of the President ensure it prominently note its “data quality issues and limitations.”
The GAO’s report was requested by Democratic senators after their office investigations showed inaccuracies in DOGE assertions.
“Everyone supports rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, but DOGE was a slapdash and deceptive effort that misled the American people while doing real damage to the government’s ability to serve them,” Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the highest ranked Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a news release.
“Elon Musk and the Trump Administration claimed billions of dollars in savings it could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show its work, all while putting Americans’ sensitive data at risk and hollowing out critical agencies,” he said.