RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesElon Musk became the face of the Department of Government Efficiency. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
A government watchdog audited DOGE's "Wall of Receipts," its database of estimated savings.
The independent agency said some of DOGE's cost-cutting estimates were incorrect or lacked evidence.
It found, for example, 2,500 contracts listed as terminated that were never actually terminated.
The savings claimed by the erstwhile Department of Government Efficiency don't add up, a government watchdog said Thursday.
In a new report, the Government Accountability Office, an independent congressional watchdog, said it audited the savings DOGE published on its "Wall of Receipts," an online database showing how much money DOGE says it saved .
The "Wall of Receipts" says DOGE saved an estimated $110 billion across the federal government by slashing contracts, leases, and grants.
The Government Accountability Office, however, found that some of those savings estimates were "incorrect or lack supporting evidence." It said, for instance, that it found more than 2,500 contracts listed as terminated, totaling $27.4 billion in savings, that had not actually been terminated.
The auditor said it also couldn't verify the methodology behind 96% of DOGE's claimed grant savings.
"While DOGE provided some information about estimated savings, several issues limit the transparency and reliability of these reported savings," the Government Accountability Office said in its report.
DOGE launched its "Wall of Receipts" in February 2025, less than a month after President Donald Trump established the cost-cutting agency through an executive order.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk became the face of DOGE during its initial, and ultimately temporary, run. He officially stepped back from the initiative in April 2025. DOGE fully shut down in July. The agency spearheaded the layoffs of thousands of federal employees, effectively shuttering whole departments.
Questions about how much DOGE actually saved the federal government came soon after it began its work. Last February, DOGE's "Wall of Receipts" said it had saved about $16.5 billion. It then lowered that estimate to $7.2 billion two days later. DOGE slashed another $4 billion from its estimated savings the following month.
According to the Government Accountability Office report, it's difficult to fully audit the savings because DOGE wasn't transparent about the methodologies it used to calculate them.
"Specifically, DOGE did not use its stated methodology to calculate the majority of savings associated with the contracts reported as terminated," the agency said.
The Government Accountability Office also said the "Wall of Receipts" included leases identified for termination before DOGE was formally established in January 2025.
"108 of the 264 leases identified for termination on the Wall of Receipts, about $15.3 million of the total $53.5 million in savings, were already in process for termination when DOGE was established," the auditor said.
The Government Accountability Office said the data quality issues should be "prominently displayed" on the "Wall of Receipts." A Government Accountability Office spokesperson told Business Insider that neither DOGE nor the White House has responded to its report yet.
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