Report says

A new in-depth report from Politico determines that the Ministry of Efficiency (aka Doge) saves in fact much lower than claimed. So despite spending the past six months cancelling research grants, federal contracts, and nationwide firing of federal employees, Doger is far behind Elon Musk’s promised savings.

To date, Dorje has announced $205 billion in savings since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

However, Politico reports that the wall of receipts is seriously lacking some important receipts.

Doge claims it has saved taxpayers $52.8 billion from canceled contracts, but Politico can only verify contracts worth $32.7 billion. Worse, according to Politico, the actual savings from these cancellations are close to $1.4 billion. That’s because Doge uses some creative accounting to “exaggerate” the overall savings. We will do it in one minute.

In other words, Politico reports that Doge saves only 2.6% of its 2.6% savings it claims. Crucially, as Politico notes, no money can be made from the federal deficit without Congressional intervention (which should be reduced by the Doge), as these dollars are just returning to institutions.

Politico’s lengthy report is worth delving into the depth, as it has all the technical details of Howge using “false math” to come up with these numbers. When calculating savings, Doge reports the maximum amount of spending per contract, rather than actual or planned spending.

This is actually a known issue with Doge accounting since February. Typically, experts use the analogy of credit card restrictions to explain the limitations of this approach. If you cancel your credit card with a $1 million limit, that doesn’t mean you’ve saved $1 million.

Politico’s report said Doge’s claim to have been “greatly exaggerated” and that “the scale of Doge’s exaggerated savings claims is unclear until now.”

The Trump administration told Politico in response to their story that the agency “saves historic savings for the American people,” while Doge’s public list of public claims that savings are accurate and “updated in real time based on current information.”

These questions about Doge’s exaggerated numbers may not surprise anyone who follows along with Musk’s prank. Musk officially left his position earlier this year, initially claiming the agency would save the government $2 trillion, before quickly lowering that target to $150 billion in April.

Doge’s cuts are undoubtedly effective in shutting down some government services, cutting foreign aid and cutting $125 million in funding to support LGBTQ health plans.