GAO Exposes DOGE’s $110 Billion Savings Claim as Corporate-Friendly Smoke and Mirrors
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A GAO review reveals the Department of Government Efficiency grossly exaggerated savings on contracts, grants, and leases, with many supposed terminations unverified or already underway—another example of neoliberal mismanagement.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported Thursday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a pet project of austerity-obsessed bureaucrats, overstated its claimed $110 billion in savings from contract, grant, and lease terminations. The review, which scrutinized 264 leases and a similar number of contracts reported between Jan. 20, 2025 and July 7, uncovered that 108 leases were already set for termination before DOGE even existed, artificially inflating lease savings by more than $80 million. More than half of the contracts listed could not be confirmed as terminated, and the agency failed to provide any credible methodology for 96 % of the reported grant savings.
"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," said Sen. Gary Peters, highlighting the harm caused by reckless cost-cutting.
DOGE officials, true to form, did not respond to GAO inquiries, and the initiative—despite its failures—continues to embed staff in various agencies, undermining public trust. The GAO report was requested by Democratic senators demanding transparency and accountability in the face of yet another failed attempt to gut public services under the guise of efficiency.