Some of Doge’s $110bn saving reports are wrong or lack evidence, US watchdog finds

In response to the GAO’s findings, a White House official stated that the administration had previously informed the GAO that all employees were mandated to complete ethics training and adhere to financial disclosure requirements, suggesting an effort to preemptively address potential compliance issues. Doge, officially known as the Department of Government Efficiency, was not a formal government department. It was launched at the commencement of President Trump’s second term and ceased operations last month. The "Wall of Receipts" served as its public-facing platform to demonstrate its claimed reductions in taxpayer expenditure.

Elon Musk, the high-profile billionaire chief of Tesla and SpaceX, who initially spearheaded Doge, had previously pledged to achieve annual savings as high as $2 trillion. This ambitious target was to be met through a combination of drastic measures, including substantial cuts to federal employment and the elimination of various government programs. However, even by Doge’s own internal estimates, this initial goal proved unattainable, with its website ultimately claiming a more modest, albeit still substantial, estimated savings of $214 billion. The GAO report further underscored the lack of substantiation for these figures, reiterating that "While Doge provided some information about estimated savings, several issues limit the transparency and reliability of these reported savings."

A central criticism leveled by the GAO was Doge’s failure to be transparent regarding the methodologies employed in its savings calculations. The report explicitly highlighted that the organization "did not provide sufficient information to verify the method used to calculate 96% of Doge-reported savings." This lack of clarity renders the claimed savings largely unverifiable and open to question.

The GAO’s report detailed specific instances where Doge’s claims appeared inflated or unsubstantiated. For example, out of 264 leases identified by Doge for termination, the watchdog found that 108 were already in the process of concluding before Doge’s inception. This single issue accounted for approximately $15.3 million of the $53.5 million in savings Doge attributed to lease terminations. The GAO pointed out that "The Wall of Receipts does not include an explanation of how the savings from terminated leases were calculated," further exposing a significant gap in their reporting.

Furthermore, the report identified instances where Doge claimed savings that were demonstrably not achieved. A notable example involved a claimed saving of $1.7 billion attributed to the termination of a Department of Defense contract for IT services. However, the GAO’s investigation revealed that the contract was never actually terminated, meaning no savings were realized from this purported action. This specific finding directly challenges the accuracy of Doge’s public pronouncements.

The GAO’s assessment of the "Wall of Receipts" was critical of its disclosure practices, stating, "While the Wall of Receipts includes some information about the data and sources underlying reported savings, it does not sufficiently disclose limitations affecting data quality." This suggests a pattern of presenting information in a way that overstates achievements and downplays potential inaccuracies or missing data.

The comprehensive audit conducted by the GAO was initiated at the request of Democratic Senators Gary Peters and Richard Blumenthal. The scope of the audit encompassed savings data reported by Doge from January 20, 2025, through July 7, 2026, covering the period of its most active operations.

Senator Peters, in a statement released on Thursday, expressed his strong disapproval of Doge’s operational methods. He stated, "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." This sentiment reflects a broader concern that Doge’s approach, while ostensibly aimed at fiscal prudence, may have had detrimental unintended consequences.

Under Elon Musk’s leadership, Doge advocated for sweeping reductions in the federal workforce, alongside the proposed closure of numerous government programs and even entire agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). These proposals generated considerable debate and, in some cases, faced significant opposition.

The report also touched upon the disruptive nature of some of Doge’s initiatives. Certain cost-cutting measures implemented by the group led to legal challenges or were subsequently reversed. A particularly illustrative example involved the termination of bird flu officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a decision that prompted the Trump administration to seek their re-hiring just days later, highlighting the hasty and potentially ill-considered nature of some of Doge’s actions.

In a social media post last month, Doge announced its closure, framing it as a transition rather than a definitive end to its mission. The statement read, "While the formal mission of Doge has come to an end, the mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse will continue. Good stewardship of taxpayer dollars and accountable government are not temporary initiatives." This closing statement, however, stands in stark contrast to the GAO’s findings, which suggest that the organization’s claims of successful stewardship were, at best, exaggerated and, at worst, fabricated. The report from the GAO serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of rigorous oversight and verifiable data when assessing claims of significant fiscal savings within any governmental or quasi-governmental entity. The $110 billion figure, once heralded as a testament to Doge’s efficiency, now appears to be a significantly overinflated and largely unsubstantiated number, underscoring the watchdog’s critical assessment of the organization’s transparency and reliability.