Government auditors question evidence behind DOGE's $110 billion savings claim

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the Wall of Receipts, the public ledger the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) used to report cuts to federal contracts, grants and leases. According to the GAO report, as of July 7, 2026, the agency claimed $110 billion in savings — but some of those estimates are incorrect or lack supporting evidence. One quick clarification for our readers: DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) is the federal body created by executive order in January 2025, and it has no relation to the Dogecoin meme cryptocurrency.

Of the 13,476 contracts DOGE claimed to have terminated, no termination action was actually taken on 2,503 of them. Of the 264 leases it listed as ended, 108 were already being wound down before DOGE even existed — accounting for about $15.3 million of the $53.5 million in lease savings claimed. In one specific case, DOGE took credit for savings on a Pentagon Defense Health Agency IT contract that was never actually terminated or cut. For grants, DOGE didn't provide enough information to verify the methodology behind 96% of its reported savings. GAO also noted that DOGE didn't respond to its requests for information or interviews. The body wound down operations on July 4, 2026, after Elon Musk had already left government in late May.

• 2,503 of 13,476 claimed contract terminations saw no actual termination action
• 108 of 264 "ended" leases were already winding down before DOGE existed
• 96% of claimed grant savings couldn't be verified due to insufficient data

“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. 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.”

— Gary Peters, Democratic senator who requested the GAO probe

For broader context on Musk's business empire, we've covered how his $44 billion Twitter buy fell to $9.4 billion, then merged into a $1.25 trillion structure with SpaceX.

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