A new analysis of government contracts cut by the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) shows that, around 40 percent of the time, these cuts haven’t yielded savings for taxpayers at all.
The analysis, conducted by The Associated Press and based on data provided by DOGE itself, is further evidence that the Elon Musk-run “department” is misstating its total savings numbers, and misleading the public in the process.
According to the analysis, 417 of the 1,125 contracts that are listed as having recently been canceled — a little more than 37 percent of those contracts — account for agreements that have “already been fully obligated.” In other words, the payments on those contracts have already been made, meaning that canceling them won’t result in any savings.
Despite this finding, DOGE still claims that those 417 contracts somehow account for nearly half a billion dollars in savings.
Charles Tiefer, a retired University of Baltimore law professor who is an expert on government contracting law, explained to The Associated Press that many of the contracts were merely set to expire, and that they wouldn’t have amounted to future spending unless they were renewed. Canceling them now doesn’t create any new savings, he said.
“It’s like confiscating used ammunition after it’s been shot when there’s nothing left in it,” Tiefer said. “It doesn’t accomplish any policy objective. Their terminating so many contracts pointlessly obviously doesn’t accomplish anything for saving money.”
Despite its purported “efficiency,” DOGE’s own budget appears to be ballooning. From January 30 to February 8, the budget for the “department” more than doubled, going from $6.75 million to $14.44 million. The original budget for DOGE was much smaller, too — at its start, the Trump administration allocated just $750,000 for the project.
DOGE doesn’t appear to be scrutinizing its own spending habits — nor those of President Donald Trump. While DOGE continues to scrap various contracts and programs that are in the thousands of dollars, Trump has reportedly spent over $10.7 million in taxpayer funds to play golf.
That’s likely a higher rate of taxpayer spending than was seen in the first month of his first term in office, when Trump engaged in six golf outings. In the first month of his second term, Trump has spent at least seven days golfing — around a quarter of the days he’s been in office so far.
DOGE has faced widespread criticism for ripping through the federal government, with many constitutional experts pointing out that the “department” may not be legal at all. Notably, DOGE staffers have accessed sensitive computer systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment systems (although staffers are now temporarily suspended from accessing those systems by a court order). DOGE also intends to access IRS and Social Security data.
DOGE has fired or furloughed thousands of federal workers so far, including over 1,000 National Park Service workers. The department has also mistakenly fired workers who were tasked with monitoring nuclear weapons, gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and canceled close to $1 billion in Department of Education contracts.
Meanwhile, at least three members of the DOGE team have recently come under fire for their misogynistic, racist and/or white nationalist activity online. One staffer resigned after media uncovered his racist social media posts — but after Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump came to the staffer’s defense, Musk reinstated him to the task force.
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