Elon Musk's DOGE Allegedly Took Credit for Ongoing Work as Report Exposes Fake Billions in Savings

A congressional watchdog in Washington revealed on Thursday that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency significantly overstated its total DOGE savings by publishing inaccurate figures and taking credit for work already underway. The US Government Accountability Office published a damning analysis showing that the high-profile federal cost-cutting body failed to substantiate billions of dollars in claimed budget cuts.

To recall, the initiative led by the tech billionaire officially ceased operations on July 4, 2026, after launching with an eye-watering ambition to trim two trillion dollars from federal spending. The body had publicly touted 215 billion dollars in total savings during its last operational update back in January 2026.

Auditors Expose Phantom Cuts and Broken Pledges

Musk, who served as a senior adviser to Donald Trump while leading the initiative, eventually announced he would leave his role in the Trump administration to refocus on his private business empire.

The unit had famously promised on its official website that its figures 'will initially be updated weekly' and that 'over time, the website will improve, and the updates will converge to real-time.'

However, the initiative failed to update its published figures at all for the final six months of its existence, leaving the tracker completely dormant. That broken pledge served as a fitting symbol for the entire operation, with federal auditors confirming that the claimed savings simply do not add up.

The congressional watchdog found that roughly $110 billion (£81.8 billion) of the claimed savings came from contracts, grants, and property leases. Upon closer inspection, investigators discovered that 108 leases reported as cut were already being phased out when the cost-cutting unit was established.

Billions in Contract Cuts Were Wildly Overstated

The investigation also revealed that official claims regarding terminated government contracts were wildly overstated across multiple federal agencies.

While the unit stated that it had terminated 13,476 government contracts, the new report showed that number was overstated by nearly 2,000.

That single counting discrepancy added up to about $27.4 billion (£20.38 billion) in federal contracts that were not actually cancelled by the team.

Addressing those discrepancies, auditors noted that another action, such as reducing the contract value or deobligating some funds, could have occurred instead.

In a direct assessment of the administrative chaos, the official analysis reads, 'We found that DOGE did not accurately report actions taken on contracts.'

Of the $61 billion (£45.36 billion) in total contract savings claimed by Musk's initiative, more than half, nearly $35 billion (£26.03 billion), either was not cancelled or could not be verified because records were not specific enough.

Watchdog Slams Hidden Math and Missing Records

The congressional watchdog also found that the unit failed to provide sufficient information about how it calculated its claimed savings.

In one of the most glaring failures detailed in the report, auditors said the unit did not use its stated methodology for 96 per cent of the savings it claimed from grants.

Senator Gary Peters, the Michigan Democrat who requested the formal assessment, launched a scathing critique of the administration's claims and operational conduct.

'Elon Musk and the Trump administration claimed billions of dollars in savings they could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show their work, all while putting Americans' sensitive data at risk and hollowing out critical agencies,' Peters said.

Pushing back against the criticism, a White House official defended the administration's oversight procedures and staff requirements.

The White House official said the administration told auditors numerous times that all employees, whether in the initiative or not, are required to complete ethics training and follow financial disclosure requirements.

The report exposing the phantom budget cuts comes a day after the watchdog said it still cannot fully reconstruct the size of the unit's workforce.

Investigators managed to identify 206 personnel connected to the initiative, but noted that missing records from multiple federal agencies mean the true size of the operation remains completely unknown.