DOGE disclosed its receipts — discrepancies found in some of them
A manager from a company included in DOGE's list of cuts remarked, “Everyone is very well-aware they’re repeating the wrong numbers.”
TroibNews 
Elon Musk has vowed to implement a “maximally transparent” government efficiency initiative, but the details released thus far reveal a disorganized and inaccurate portrayal of his team's initial efforts.
The first extensive public accounting of the billions in claimed savings generated by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) across federal contracts contains numerous errors, as highlighted by a PMG analysis of the data shared.
DOGE’s website stipulates an estimated total savings of $55 billion, derived from a mix of canceled and renegotiated contracts and leases, fraud detection, grant terminations, layoffs, and more. However, the “wall of receipts” made public on Monday is said to represent only a fraction of the canceled contracts, accounting for about 20 percent of the “overall DOGE savings” to date.
Among the more than 1,100 contracts claimed to be canceled, PMG discovered:
- Contracts that had not yet been awarded
- Instances of a single funding source being listed multiple times, which inflated the claimed savings by tripling or quadrupling the amounts
- Purchase agreements that were not actually canceled but had language regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion removed
- Contract savings cited by DOGE that do not align with records found in the Federal Procurement Data System
- Contracts where the linked documents pertain to entirely different agreements
DOGE has made corrections to its website on two occasions: once after The New York Times publicized an $8-million contract that was inaccurately reported as $8 billion, and again by removing a $655-million contract that had been listed three times. While DOGE disputes the $7.992 billion discrepancy, it maintains that it used the accurate $8-million figure in its internal calculations.
The list also includes canceled federal contracts for various media subscriptions, including PMG Pro.
Advocates on the right have praised DOGE for its aggressive approach in federal agencies, which has led to significant layoffs of public employees. Musk recently addressed an enthusiastic audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he appeared with a chainsaw. Nevertheless, this austere approach, combined with some missteps by the Trump administration regarding federal job reductions, is beginning to exert pressure on GOP officials at the local level.
Musk has recognized that he and DOGE might make mistakes: “Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected,” he told reporters in the Oval Office last week. Nevertheless, he continues to use his social media platform, X, to tout cuts to his 219 million followers. Although the administration claims DOGE operates within legal boundaries, it is not a formally established government agency with defined oversight.
The White House has not addressed specific inquiries about these inconsistencies but reiterated DOGE’s commitment to Trump’s objective of reducing the size of government.
“President Trump promised the American people he would establish a Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Elon Musk, to make the federal government more efficient and accountable to taxpayers,” stated White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an email to PMG. “With Elon as a special government employee at the White House, and political appointees onboarding at federal agencies to assist President Trump’s cabinet secretaries, DOGE has fully integrated into the federal government to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.”
A manager at one of the companies listed on the DOGE site, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that the inconsistencies reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of federal contract data. The manager noted that while their company sought a share of the contract, they were never awarded any funds.
“Everyone in the consulting industry has been well aware of the questionable contracts issued and outright errors in the data, and everyone is very well aware they’re repeating the wrong numbers,” the manager remarked. “But we don’t want to speak up because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
Beyond the errors already addressed, PMG identified numerous duplicate contracts, with at least 14 instances of repeated items totaling $325 million in claimed savings. For example, DOGE recorded a single $25 million item under the Agriculture Department multiple times, attributing significant savings to various vendors when only two finalized contracts have been awarded, each for less than $1 million.
Other previously labeled canceled contracts have also merely been modified to remove diversity language rather than actually being canceled. In one reconsidered $30 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security, updates reveal it was “partially terminated” to eliminate all diversity-related language.
Moreover, there are hundreds of cases where DOGE reported savings of $0 or discrepancies between reported savings and federal data. DOGE seems to calculate “savings” by subtracting a contract’s obligations from its total value, presenting the difference as savings, a methodology not clarified to PMG or the White House.
Among the listed contracts, 417 show $0 in savings, suggesting no funds can be recovered. In other instances, DOGE’s claimed savings exceed the amounts indicated in federal data. For example, in the case of a USAID contract aimed at climate adaptation, DOGE reported $115 million in savings, whereas only $80 million remains available, again not accounting for recent funding changes.
Additionally, there are contracts in DOGE’s cancellation list that do not appear to correlate with the federal procurement records referenced, raising doubts about which contracts, if any, have been truly canceled.
In one instance, DOGE cites a $1.1 million contract from the National Institutes of Health linked to a larger $95.3 million contract for consulting services. In another case, DOGE reported a cancellation related to lung disease research linked to a contract for cardiovascular research; the current status of this cancellation remains unclear.
“National Jewish Health has not been informed of any cuts or cancellations of contracts related to the COPDGene research project,” stated Jessica Berry, the hospital’s media relations director.
The University of Oklahoma has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the same issue.
Sean McMinn and Taylor Miller Thomas contributed to this report.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
The first extensive public accounting of the billions in claimed savings generated by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) across federal contracts contains numerous errors, as highlighted by a PMG analysis of the data shared.
DOGE’s website stipulates an estimated total savings of $55 billion, derived from a mix of canceled and renegotiated contracts and leases, fraud detection, grant terminations, layoffs, and more. However, the “wall of receipts” made public on Monday is said to represent only a fraction of the canceled contracts, accounting for about 20 percent of the “overall DOGE savings” to date.
Among the more than 1,100 contracts claimed to be canceled, PMG discovered:
- Contracts that had not yet been awarded
- Instances of a single funding source being listed multiple times, which inflated the claimed savings by tripling or quadrupling the amounts
- Purchase agreements that were not actually canceled but had language regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion removed
- Contract savings cited by DOGE that do not align with records found in the Federal Procurement Data System
- Contracts where the linked documents pertain to entirely different agreements
DOGE has made corrections to its website on two occasions: once after The New York Times publicized an $8-million contract that was inaccurately reported as $8 billion, and again by removing a $655-million contract that had been listed three times. While DOGE disputes the $7.992 billion discrepancy, it maintains that it used the accurate $8-million figure in its internal calculations.
The list also includes canceled federal contracts for various media subscriptions, including PMG Pro.
Advocates on the right have praised DOGE for its aggressive approach in federal agencies, which has led to significant layoffs of public employees. Musk recently addressed an enthusiastic audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he appeared with a chainsaw. Nevertheless, this austere approach, combined with some missteps by the Trump administration regarding federal job reductions, is beginning to exert pressure on GOP officials at the local level.
Musk has recognized that he and DOGE might make mistakes: “Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected,” he told reporters in the Oval Office last week. Nevertheless, he continues to use his social media platform, X, to tout cuts to his 219 million followers. Although the administration claims DOGE operates within legal boundaries, it is not a formally established government agency with defined oversight.
The White House has not addressed specific inquiries about these inconsistencies but reiterated DOGE’s commitment to Trump’s objective of reducing the size of government.
“President Trump promised the American people he would establish a Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Elon Musk, to make the federal government more efficient and accountable to taxpayers,” stated White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an email to PMG. “With Elon as a special government employee at the White House, and political appointees onboarding at federal agencies to assist President Trump’s cabinet secretaries, DOGE has fully integrated into the federal government to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.”
A manager at one of the companies listed on the DOGE site, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that the inconsistencies reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of federal contract data. The manager noted that while their company sought a share of the contract, they were never awarded any funds.
“Everyone in the consulting industry has been well aware of the questionable contracts issued and outright errors in the data, and everyone is very well aware they’re repeating the wrong numbers,” the manager remarked. “But we don’t want to speak up because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
Beyond the errors already addressed, PMG identified numerous duplicate contracts, with at least 14 instances of repeated items totaling $325 million in claimed savings. For example, DOGE recorded a single $25 million item under the Agriculture Department multiple times, attributing significant savings to various vendors when only two finalized contracts have been awarded, each for less than $1 million.
Other previously labeled canceled contracts have also merely been modified to remove diversity language rather than actually being canceled. In one reconsidered $30 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security, updates reveal it was “partially terminated” to eliminate all diversity-related language.
Moreover, there are hundreds of cases where DOGE reported savings of $0 or discrepancies between reported savings and federal data. DOGE seems to calculate “savings” by subtracting a contract’s obligations from its total value, presenting the difference as savings, a methodology not clarified to PMG or the White House.
Among the listed contracts, 417 show $0 in savings, suggesting no funds can be recovered. In other instances, DOGE’s claimed savings exceed the amounts indicated in federal data. For example, in the case of a USAID contract aimed at climate adaptation, DOGE reported $115 million in savings, whereas only $80 million remains available, again not accounting for recent funding changes.
Additionally, there are contracts in DOGE’s cancellation list that do not appear to correlate with the federal procurement records referenced, raising doubts about which contracts, if any, have been truly canceled.
In one instance, DOGE cites a $1.1 million contract from the National Institutes of Health linked to a larger $95.3 million contract for consulting services. In another case, DOGE reported a cancellation related to lung disease research linked to a contract for cardiovascular research; the current status of this cancellation remains unclear.
“National Jewish Health has not been informed of any cuts or cancellations of contracts related to the COPDGene research project,” stated Jessica Berry, the hospital’s media relations director.
The University of Oklahoma has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the same issue.
Sean McMinn and Taylor Miller Thomas contributed to this report.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
