GAO report finds DOGE savings claims overstated and lacking transparency

The Government Accountability Office released a report Thursday that challenges the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) claims of cutting federal spending. The watchdog examined $110 billion in savings that DOGE listed on its “Wall of Receipts,” which includes reductions in contracts, grants and leases, and found multiple issues that limit the transparency and reliability of the figures.

GAO auditors determined that of the 13,476 contracts DOGE said it terminated, no termination action had been taken on 2,503. The agency also found that the $113 million savings DOGE reported from cutting 264 leases was overstated; the actual savings amounted to $53.5 million, and about 108 of those leases were already in the termination process before DOGE was created.

The review covered the period from Jan. 20, 2025, when the administration took office, through July 7, 2026, three days after DOGE announced it was winding down. GAO compared DOGE’s data with official federal databases and concluded that the website should prominently warn readers about data-quality problems and its unreliability as a source.

Senator Gary Peters, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said, "> 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."

The GAO report was requested by Senators Peters and Richard Blumenthal. DOGE did not respond to GAO’s requests for information, and neither Musk nor the White House provided comment.