DOGE Claims Cost-Cutting Measures Have Resulted in Approximately $55 Billion in Savings to Date
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, announced that contract cancellations constituted approximately 20 percent of the total savings reported.
According to DOGE, which is spearheaded by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the agency’s cost-reduction initiatives across various federal agencies have resulted in an estimated $55 billion in savings as of February 17.
DOGE highlighted that contract cancellations alone made up around 20 percent of the total savings since the formation of the advisory body.
The ten agencies that realized the greatest savings from contracts include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture.
According to the data, DOGE has terminated over 200 contracts awarded by USAID, the agency responsible for U.S. foreign aid and development assistance.
This list includes the cancellation of contracts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across multiple agencies.
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Among the canceled contracts was a $45 million DEI scholarship program issued by USAID in Myanmar, as well as a $36 million DEI training contract for leadership and supervisors in the Department of Homeland Security, and $130,000 for DEI training at the Department of Defense.
Also terminated were subscriptions to Politico Pro, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Government, and The Wall Street Journal.
They indicated that the data will be updated bi-weekly while the website undergoes improvements, with the goal of providing real-time updates in the future.
It was noted that these identification codes, known as Treasury Access Symbols (TASs), are meant to indicate the accounts linked to Treasury payments. DOGE described this as a “standard financial process” for accounting purposes, yet these codes were not applied to trillions of dollars worth of payments because this classification field was made optional.
DOGE has since made it mandatory for identification codes to ensure all payments can be tracked effectively.
Following his inauguration on January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that rebranded the existing U.S. Digital Service as DOGE, assigning it the task of reviewing federal agencies for potential downsizing and cost-effective measures. The order specifies that DOGE’s mission is expected to complete by July 4, 2026.
To facilitate audits, DOGE has been granted access to federal systems, leading to legal challenges from some Democratic lawmakers and labor unions who contend that this access is unconstitutional.
In early February, Trump remarked to reporters at the White House that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll grant him the approval where deemed appropriate; where it’s not appropriate, we won’t.”
“He reports in,” the president added.
“The populace voted for significant government reform, and that is what they will receive,” said the tech billionaire. “That embodies the essence of democracy.”
The Government Accountability Office, a congressional oversight agency, estimates that the U.S. government incurs losses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually due to fraud and erroneous payments.
Reuters contributed to this report.
