Elon Musk's DOGE Savings Overstated, GAO Report Finds

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) audited the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a cost‑cutting agency created by President Donald Trump and led initially by Elon Musk. The GAO concluded that only about 4 % of the $110 billion DOGE claimed to have saved from contracts, grants and leases could be verified.

The audit uncovered major discrepancies: of the 13,476 contracts DOGE said it terminated, 2,503 were never ended, representing $27.4 billion in phantom savings. Among 264 leases listed as cancelled, 108 were already in the process of termination before DOGE existed. The agency also could not verify 96 % of its reported grant savings and found a $1.7 billion “savings” claim on a Department of Defense contract that was never cut.

DOGE’s website continued to display $215 billion in total claimed savings, but the GAO found the underlying data unreliable and lacking transparency. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Richard Blumenthal (CT) requested the review. DOGE ceased operations on July 4 after the executive order that created it expired, and Musk stepped back from the role in early 2025.