Musk’s DOGE says it has saved $55 billion. Not so fast
Geplaatst: 24 feb 2025 00:19
As President Trump and Elon Musk vow to accelerate, WaPo claims they’re fudging the numbers. 
Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service claimed this week to have saved an estimated $55 billion through a combination of layoffs, canceled contracts, lease renegotiations and other actions. But a list that it posted of contracts and leases suggests that number is inflated.
DOGE has pledged to significantly reduce the size of the federal government, both in terms of workforce and spending. Its representatives have been dispatched to more than a dozen agencies to assess programs and work to cut staff. Its rapid actions have drawn criticism from some who say the efforts are hurting essential work.
On its website, DOGE — which stands for Department of Government Efficiency — lists a select group of 1,125 contracts it has canceled, along with a purported $7.2 billion in savings it has reaped. These contract savings account for just 20 percent of total savings from the past month, the office says.
Yet a Washington Post analysis of the contract data found that many of the canceled contracts were already complete, meaning canceling them didn’t yield any money back because they had been fully paid out — and indeed, 417 of the deals on DOGE’s list indicate that they saved $0. Another 51 added up to savings of just under $1 million.
https://archive.ph/2025.02.22-162408/ht ... gn=wp_main
Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service claimed this week to have saved an estimated $55 billion through a combination of layoffs, canceled contracts, lease renegotiations and other actions. But a list that it posted of contracts and leases suggests that number is inflated.
DOGE has pledged to significantly reduce the size of the federal government, both in terms of workforce and spending. Its representatives have been dispatched to more than a dozen agencies to assess programs and work to cut staff. Its rapid actions have drawn criticism from some who say the efforts are hurting essential work.
On its website, DOGE — which stands for Department of Government Efficiency — lists a select group of 1,125 contracts it has canceled, along with a purported $7.2 billion in savings it has reaped. These contract savings account for just 20 percent of total savings from the past month, the office says.
Yet a Washington Post analysis of the contract data found that many of the canceled contracts were already complete, meaning canceling them didn’t yield any money back because they had been fully paid out — and indeed, 417 of the deals on DOGE’s list indicate that they saved $0. Another 51 added up to savings of just under $1 million.
https://archive.ph/2025.02.22-162408/ht ... gn=wp_main