Overview

• Politico verified $32.7 billion of DOGE’s $52.8 billion in cancelled contracts but estimates actual savings at about $1.4 billion, under 5 percent of claimed cuts.
• DOGE’s practice of counting maximum “ceiling” values rather than actual or planned spending inflates its reported savings.
• Funds from cancelled contracts are returned to federal agencies by law and require congressional approval to reduce the deficit.
• A Senate Permanent Subcommittee report identified $21.7 billion in taxpayer costs tied to workforce downsizing programs under DOGE.
• The White House defends DOGE’s figures as “rigorously scrubbed” even as GAO audits and congressional oversight intensify.