The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was created by President Donald Trump in January 2025 with a bold mission: to eliminate what the administration calls wasteful federal spending. Since its launch, DOGE says it has assisted in canceling over 25,000 federal contracts, grants, and leases, claiming total savings of around $175 billion. According to the agency’s public statement, this works out to about $1,056 saved per American taxpayer.
An update to the DOGE website in May reported that 10,871 contracts, 15,149 grants, and 494 government leases had been terminated. The agency claims the largest savings came from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration.
One recent DOGE update stated, “Last week, 81 wasteful contracts were canceled with a total potential value of $368 million,” and that this led to an estimated savings of $244 million. The task force also said it recently completed a “major cleanup” of 12.3 million Social Security records that incorrectly listed individuals aged 120 or older as still living, a move they claim will improve federal data accuracy and prevent future fraud.
A Billionaire’s Role in Government Reform
Though the agency is officially under the executive branch, Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX, played a central role in DOGE’s early months. While Musk no longer runs the agency’s day-to-day operations, his involvement gave it a high-profile start. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote, “Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms. I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week).”
At a forum in Qatar on May 20, Musk emphasized that DOGE is not a governing body. “We’re not the dictators of the government. We are the advisers,” he said. “And so we can advise, and the progress we’ve made thus far, I think, is incredible.” Musk also added, “The DOGE team has done incredible work, but the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general.”
Although Musk reportedly spent nearly $300 million supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign and Republican candidates, he has since said he will cut his political spending and refocus on his businesses.
Critics Question the Numbers
Despite DOGE’s bold claims, many experts and media outlets say the numbers don’t hold up under scrutiny. CBS News analyzed DOGE’s website, particularly its “Wall of Receipts,” which lists canceled contracts. While DOGE claims $55 billion in savings, CBS found that the listed contracts added up to only $8.6 billion—a fraction of what is being promoted.
Federal contracting experts have also criticized DOGE’s method for calculating savings. Rather than using the actual obligated amount of each contract, DOGE uses the full potential value of the contract—similar to a credit card limit, not what was actually spent. CBS wrote, “Federal contracting experts have criticized and likened [this method] to a credit card maximum, rather than a realistic estimate of planned spending.”
Some of the contracts that Trump and Musk have highlighted include:
- $19 million for biodiversity research in Nepal
- $10 million for male circumcision efforts in Mozambique
- $14 million to promote “social cohesion” in Mali
- $42 million to Johns Hopkins for behavior change research in Uganda
- $1 billion for Social Security tech support
- $10 million for diversity training at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Trump mentioned several of these during a February 18 press conference, asking, “What about us? What about social change in our country?”
Critics argue that many of these contracts were not secret or fraudulent. For example, the Mozambique circumcision project is a known public health effort recognized by the World Health Organization as an effective HIV prevention strategy. Most of the spending Trump referenced had already been listed on USASpending.gov, a federal transparency site created in 2007 that tracks awards over $25,000.
Oversight or Overreach?
Democrats have strongly pushed back against DOGE’s efforts. On April 29, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), leaders on the appropriations committees, accused the Trump administration of blocking more than $400 billion in federal spending already approved by Congress. In a joint statement, they said, “Instead of investing in the American people, President Trump is ignoring our laws and ripping resources away.” They referred to DOGE’s work as a “vast, illegal funding freeze” that was “hurting people in every zip code in America.”
Supporters of DOGE argue that many of these contracts were unnecessary or part of bloated bureaucracies. They say the federal government has become too large and inefficient. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in a February 15 post on X that much of this spending “has been hidden from Congress for decades.” That claim has been fact-checked as inaccurate. Most of the contracts in question were publicly available long before DOGE’s website went live.
Brandon Daniels, CEO of Exiger, a company that works with federal contractors, explained that most federal contracts go through a strict public bidding process. “The government agency publicly requests proposals and determines the lowest price and best value,” Daniels said. He added, “It’s not a free-for-all; it’s a negotiated, approved budget, with strings attached.”
Michael Embrich, a former Veterans Affairs adviser, said, “Federal spending is one of the most regulated things I’ve ever seen in my life. The federal government gives you a harder time about spending money than any government at any level that I’ve ever worked with.”
Does DOGE Actually Save Money?
Another issue raised by critics is whether canceling these contracts actually saves money. Many of the contracts were frameworks with spending caps, not guarantees of payment. In some cases, nothing had been spent at all. One example is a $10 million contract for diversity training. DOGE lists it as a $10 million savings, but no money had actually been disbursed.
Additionally, more than one-third of the contracts listed by DOGE reportedly show $0 in savings because the funds had already been spent before the contract was canceled. According to Daniels, “Transparency matters, and making sure these savings are realized—not just projected—is the key to proving DOGE’s impact.”
DOGE has also faced legal setbacks. A lower court ruling limited its access to Social Security Administration records, which the Trump administration is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn.
A Tense Political Experiment
DOGE’s efforts have clearly stirred controversy. For some, it represents a long-overdue shakeup of bloated federal agencies. For others, it’s a politically motivated attempt to bypass Congress and gut government programs. While the group’s supporters insist it will help bring fiscal discipline, critics argue it exaggerates its success and targets programs that Congress legally approved.
FAM Editor: We are pleased because this is the FIRST administration since Clinton that actually cares about the National Debt. Many of us believe that the debt will crash the country when it reaches a certain level – previously thought to be about $35 Trillion, but higher now with the massive inflation of the past administration. Of course, inflation itself is utterly destructive.
It is hard to say if DOGE will be enough, but the focus is certainly welcome.
