GAO report: DOGE overstated savings, $34.6 billion of $61 billion in contract cuts unverified

Published Aug 6, 08:50 PM UTC

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) vastly overstated its claimed savings on its public 'Wall of Receipts.' The watchdog determined that roughly $34.6 billion of the $61 billion in claimed contract savings came from contracts that were never actually terminated or could not be verified. Additionally, 108 out of 264 leases listed as terminated were already in the process of termination before DOGE existed, leading to an overstatement of $81.1 million in lease savings. DOGE also failed to provide sufficient information to verify 96.2% of its estimated grant savings. The report, requested by Democratic Senators, highlights significant data quality issues and a lack of transparency in the Trump administration's efficiency initiative, which formally ended in July 2026.