In brief
Recent research by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has exposed significant problems in the Doge agency’s reported savings figures. Doge, a body created by the Trump administration to slash federal spending and led by Elon Musk until May 2025, claimed over $110bn in cost reductions, but most of these figures are unverified or inflated. The GAO report highlights opaque calculation methods, premature lease terminations already underway before Doge’s formation, and unachieved contract terminations. The findings underscore a pattern of misleading claims that risk eroding public trust in government efficiency initiatives. In response, Doge announced its closure last month but pledged that its mission to eliminate waste continues.
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the Doge agency’s claims of $110bn in savings across contracts, grants and leases are largely unreliable.
David A. Youldon, head of the GAO in Washington, said the agency failed to provide sufficient detail on how the savings were calculated and that large portions of the numbers were based on leases that were already set to terminate before Doge was even formed.
The GAO also flagged misleading claims such as a $1.7bn savings from a defence contract that was never actually ended. By missing transparency and failing to explain its methodology, Doge’s “Wall of Receipts” failed to meet the watchdog’s standards for reliability.
President Trump’s administration launched Doge in early 2021 as a way to speed up federal cuts, with tech billionaire Elon Musk leading the push. Musk promised to save up to $2tn a year before stepping down in May 2025. Doge’s estimates fell short of that goal, showing only around $214bn in savings in its own figures.
The GAO audit was requested by Senators Gary Peters and Richard Blumenthal and covered data from 20 January 2025 to 7 July 2026. Peters called the agency “slapdash and deceptive,” saying it had misled the public and harmed the government’s service capabilities.
Some of Doge’s cost‑cutting moves met with legal challenges or reversals, such as the firing of bird‑flu officials in the USDA, who were re‑hired days later. In its final public statement, Doge said the organization was closing but that the mission to reduce waste, fraud and abuse would endure.
