Breaking down DOGE’s reported savings
Image: Saul Loeb/AFP
Over the past month, the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency has been investigating a wide range of federal agencies with the stated goal of reducing wasteful spending.
DOGE’s website touts estimated overall savings of $55 billion to date, which it says comes from a combination of fraud detection, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.
- The top targets for cuts thus far have been foreign aid distributed by USAID, and contracts at research-focused federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services and Education Department, per data shared by DOGE.
But some of the math isn’t mathing. While the department hasn’t offered details about all of the stated savings, DOGE has posted a list of 1,100+ canceled contracts to its website, which it says represents ~20% of overall DOGE savings.
As of Friday, DOGE said the savings from these contracts amounted to ~$7.2 billion. That figure is down from an earlier claim of $16.5 billion, largely due to DOGE updating a cancelled contract to reflect its true value of $8 million, instead of $8 billion as previously recorded.
- A Wall Street Journal analysis projects the savings from the contracts DOGE has posted amounts to ~$2.6 billion over the next year, if spending levels remained constant.
- The WSJ also found many individual claims of savings on DOGE’s website are overstated.
Big picture: According to leader Elon Musk, DOGE’s goal is to cut $1 trillion-2 trillion from the US government’s ~$6.8 trillion in annual spending before the department is set to expire in July 2026.
Analysts and experts widely agree that achieving such a figure requires cuts to one or all of Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and defense spending. When combined with interest payments on America’s ~$36.2 trillion national debt, these categories add up to ~$4.7 trillion/year in spending.
📊 Flash poll: In general, how do you feel about DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts across the federal government thus far?
See a 360° view of what pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that there are many reasons to be skeptical that Elon Musk’s DOGE will cut a trillion or so dollars of wasteful spending – but even if it comes close, any savings should go towards reducing the national debt, not cash payments to Americans.
- Others contend that sending out checks to Americans containing 20% of DOGE’s savings would run counter to Trump’s stated goal of reducing inflation, and probably won’t sit well with the markets or with Republican lawmakers who have to approve such payments.
- “Deficit-funded stimulus checks? No thanks.” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “A DOGE Dividend?” –Dealbook, NY Times
- “What is Elon Musk doing? Not slashing the budget.” –Matt Bai, WaPo
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that it’s telling that Democrats are currently shocked about DOGE doing something to curb wasteful spending by the federal government, since that bloated government waste is great for their bottom line.
- Others contend that DOGE’s proposal to pay a dividend to each American using 20% of the money it saves is a smart way to drive home the reality to taxpayers that the money wasted by the federal government is coming out of their pockets
- “DOGE digs deep, finds your tax dollars wasted” –Boston Herald Editorial Board
- “DOGE Dividend will buy support for cost cutting” –Detroit News Editorial Board
- “A DOGE dividend could be a win-win-win for the GOP and Team Trump” –Liz Peek, The Hill
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