Some of Doge's $110bn saving reports are wrong or lack evidence, US watchdog finds

What the report says

The US Government Accountability Office has found that many of the savings claimed by the Department of Government Efficiency, known as Doge, were either unsupported or not well explained. In a report released Thursday, the congressional watchdog reviewed Doge’s online “Wall of Receipts,” which said the body had saved $110bn across contracts, grants and leases. The GAO said the reporting lacked transparency and that it could not verify the method behind most of the claimed savings.

BBC News reported that Doge, created at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term and later closed last month, was originally presented as a cost-cutting effort led by Elon Musk. The GAO said Doge did not provide enough information to verify the calculations behind 96% of the savings it reported. One example cited by the watchdog involved leases that were already due to end before Doge began, while another involved a claimed defence contract saving that was not actually achieved because the contract was never terminated.

The audit covered savings data reported between 20 January 2025 and 7 July 2026 and was requested by Democratic Senators Gary Peters and Richard Blumenthal. The findings matter because Doge was a high-profile part of Trump’s second-term spending agenda and because the report raises questions about how public savings claims were measured and presented. A White House official said the administration told the GAO that employees had completed ethics training and financial disclosure requirements.