DOGE's ledger: claimed savings, uncounted costs

DOGE's public 'wall of receipts' at times claimed more than $200 billion in savings. By July 2026 it listed $110 billion from cancelled contracts, grants and leases. The Government Accountability Office found in August 2026 that some estimates were incorrect or unsupported: DOGE did not disclose its methods, GAO could not verify how 96 percent of the grant savings were calculated, and lease savings were overstated. Early on, the site counted an $8 million contract as $8 billion.

The costs are harder to see. The nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service estimated that paid leave, rehiring and lost productivity cost about $135 billion in 2025, before counting lawsuits or lost tax revenue. A Brookings analysis found roughly 25,000 fired workers were later rehired as essential. The Yale Budget Lab estimated the loss of 22,000 IRS staff could cost about $8.5 billion in uncollected revenue in 2026 alone, and GAO found layoffs in one Education Department office may have cost $38 million in pay for employees who were no longer working.

By late 2025 DOGE had effectively disbanded, far short of Musk's original $2 trillion goal.