The DOGE social media account only claims about $2 billion, with another $4 billion from cutting medical research funds.
Analysis by Glenn Kessler
“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars that we’ve already found. … But you’re talking about maybe 500 billion. It’s crazy the numbers you’re talking about.”
— President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters, Feb. 11
The president, with billionaire Elon Musk at his side, asserted that Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service had already identified “tens of billions” of “waste, fraud and abuse.” He suggested it could be as much as $500 billion and “when you get down to it, it’s going to be probably close to a trillion dollars. It could be close to a trillion dollars that we’re going to find.”
The president’s numbers do not come anywhere close to matching figures posted on the DOGE account on X, Musk’s social media site. (DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a Cabinet-level agency.) We added up all the figures posted, taking most of them at face value, though virtually no documentation was presented. The numbers add up to about $6 billion a year, though $4 billion comes from a proposed cap on National Institutes of Health research overhead payments to universities, medical centers and other grant recipients. A judge has blocked that for now.
In other words, DOGE has claimed only about $2 billion in annual savings from specific line items — most of which appear to come from ending diversity or climate change programs. Whether that constitutes “waste, fraud and abuse” is a matter of opinion.
Below is a list of DOGE social media posts identifying the claimed savings at the time the president spoke. We sent our accounting to the White House, which did not dispute it. Instead, we received a statement that the federal government could save up to $747 billion annually.
Two Government Accountability Office reports were the source of this figure. One report, issued last year, said that the “federal government loses an estimated $233 billion to $521 billion” every year to fraud. The other report, also issued in 2024, cited an estimated $236 billion of improper payments for fiscal year 2023.
These reports are filled with caveats, as they are estimates. The 2024 report on fraud relied on information from agency inspectors general, whom Trump has fired, and existing cases — fraud that had already been identified. Then an estimate of potential fraud was developed. As for the improper payments, these were mostly agency estimates of overpayments.
But, again, these are estimates, not hard facts, as Trump claimed.
Here’s the full accounting of what DOGE has claimed so far. “MM” and “M” both refer to million; “B” refers to billion.
Jan. 21: Savings from elimination of the penny: $179 million a year. (DOGE noted a penny cost this much, but then Trump later ordered the U.S. Mint to stop making the penny, so we will credit this to DOGE. The Mint, in its annual report, said it lost $85.3 million in fiscal year 2024 from producing the penny.)
Jan. 22: “$784 MILLION in taxpayer dollars for a new U.S. Embassy in South Sudan, initiated in 2023. This is not a reasonable expenditure.” (No indication this has been canceled, so we will not count this.)
Jan. 27: $1.6 million in leases terminated (superseded by Feb. 2 tweet).
Jan. 28: “DOGE is saving the Federal Government approx. $1 billion/day, mostly from stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations, all consistent with the President’s Executive Orders.” (No documentation provided, so we will not count this.)
Jan. 29: $45 million in “DEI scholarships” in Myanmar canceled. (This program allowed Burmese students from marginalized and underprivileged backgrounds to study at universities across Asia.)
Jan. 29: The account claims that $1 billion in diversity, equity and inclusion contracts were canceled. (A list was provided by agency, though with few details, but we will count this.)
Feb. 2: “In the past 6 days, the number of lease terminations of underutilized buildings has increased from 3 to 22, with savings increased from $1.6M to $44.6M.”
Feb. 3: “This morning, 20 consulting contracts, mostly focused on ‘strategic communication’ and ‘executive coaching,’ were terminated for immediate savings of $26mm.”
Feb. 3: “All in today, 36 contracts were terminated for a total savings of ~$165mm across 6 agencies, including a DHS contract for ‘people and culture survey and climate support services.’”
Feb. 4: “12 consulting contract terminations (in GSA and the Dept. of Education) for a total savings of ~$30mm, including a $23mm work order for ‘digital modernization Program Management Office support’. -12 underutilized lease cancellations for an annual savings of ~$3mm.”
Feb. 5: “The Social Security Administration has terminated its contract for the ‘Gender X initiative marker’ and removed all references to gender ideology from public facing applications. This saves > $1M.”
Feb. 5: $500,000 to Politico via NASA. (These were subscription payments.)
Feb. 6: $600,000 to the Associated Press.
Feb. 6: “Today, 78 contracts were terminated for convenience across DEI, Non-Performing, Media, and Consulting categories, including one for ‘groundwater exploration and assessment in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.’ Approximately $110mm of total savings.”
Feb. 7: “In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract [sic] worth $182 million. These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses — none touched any health care programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at NIH Museum.”
Feb. 7: “Saved > $4B annually in excessive [National Institutes of Health] grant administrative costs.”
Feb. 7: “Today, the Department of Education terminated three DEI training grants totaling $15M.”
Feb. 7: “Great coordination across 35 agencies over the last two days to terminate 199 wasteful contracts saving ~$250mm, including: Contract for ‘Asia Pacific — Sri Lanka climate change mitigation adaption and resilience coordinator services for forest service.’”
Feb. 10: “Today, the Department of Agriculture terminated 18 contracts for a total of ~$9mm, including contracts for ‘Central American gender assessment consultant services’, ‘Brazil forest and gender consultant services’, and the ‘women in forest carbon initiative mentorship program.’”
Feb. 10: “Today, the Department of Education terminated 29 DEI training grants totaling $101mm.”
Feb. 10: “Also today, the Department Of Education terminated 89 contracts worth $881mm.”
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