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DOGE’s claim of $110B in savings was vastly inflated and riddled with errors: GAO

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025, in Washington, DC. Musk served as an adviser to Trump and led the Department of Government Efficiency. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — When Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency launched its effort to slash federal spending last year, it also created a website to show how much money it said it was saving taxpayers.

A new review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found the site’s claim of $110 billion in taxpayer savings was vastly inflated and unreliable.

The report found DOGE could not provide enough information to verify 96% of its reported savings from canceled grants.

Despite its pledge of transparency, the report found DOGE did not use its stated methodology to calculate about half of the savings it reported.

“Because U.S. DOGE Service officials did not respond to requests for information, GAO could not determine the reasons why DOGE did not disclose data quality issues and limitations when the website first went live or at any time since then,” the report said.

The report also found DOGE failed to terminate some of the contracts it claimed to have canceled. According to the report, $27.4 billion in claimed savings was never executed, and DOGE did not provide identifying information for another $7.2 billion in claimed savings.

DOGE also claimed $1.7 billion in savings from an IT services contract for the Defense Department’s Defense Health Agency, but the report said no changes were ever made.

The report also said DOGE claimed savings from millions of dollars in leases that had already been identified for termination.

Musk has since left DOGE. ABC News reached out to Musk and the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Although DOGE formally ended on July 4, its “Wall of Receipts” remains online, claiming a total of $215 billion in taxpayer savings.

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Young collectors open Sports Card Shop

Click here for updates on this story    ST. JOSEPH, Missouri (KQTV) -- The sports card hobby has become a multibillion-dollar business, and a few young collectors have now opened their own card shop.Two brothers, Chase and Cade Frieden, and their friend, Kreightyn Johnson, started their own sports card business in St. Joseph called The Card Cave."You get into something as a kid, something you enjoy, and you have so much sitting at home that has value," Johnson said. "You kind of have fun with it, and you start small."The Card Cave opened in late July. The three are just getting started, but they've already learned a lot about what it takes to run a business."I feel like we've put our minds to it pretty hard and straight in the past couple of weeks to get it done," Johnson said. "It's growing really well."Besides buying and selling sports and trading cards, the three have learned more about marketing a business, taking inventory and balancing their budget."It takes a lot," Cade Frieden said. "Like comping the cards and seeing how their values go up and down."Just days into their new business, they've learned that some collectors are looking for unique cards."Sometimes people want things that you would never expect," Chase Frieden said. "Like old cards -- I feel like those would do way better than they do. But there are the older cards, and some are like a dollar now. They're less than the newer ones."The Card Cave is located downstairs in the Polished Porch Antique and Boutique Mall at 3603 Frederick Ave. in St. Joseph.Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
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