DOGE displayed $113 million in lease savings even though its 264 rows summed to $53.5 million; GAO estimated $31.8 million in savings and an $81.1 million overstatement against the headline.
DOGE overstated lease savings by $81.1 million, GAO found
Back to results- Date
- 2026-08-06
- Evidence status
- estimate
- Current status
- GAO estimated $31.8 million, $81.1 million below DOGE's headline
The ledger
175 matching recordsHouthis capture U.S.-made armored vehicles around Mokha2026-09-111 sourceMokha's capture weakens interdiction and offers new maritime attack positions2026-09-101 sourceNepal maternal and newborn services collapsed after USAID support ended2026-08-13Elon Muskterminated support for remote maternal-care systemsU.S. Agency for International Development1 sourceDOGE labeled a $3.75 billion Air Force contract-ceiling cut as savings2026-08-06Elon Muskcounted a ceiling reduction on an active contract as savingsDepartment of the Air Force1 sourceDOGE claimed $62.7 million on an Air Force IT contract; GAO found $21.6 million deobligated2026-08-06Elon Muskclaimed savings from an Air Force IT contract actionDepartment of the Air Force1 sourceA $28 million DCSA savings claim was followed by a $27.4 million replacement award2026-08-06Elon Muskterminated and repurchased finance-modernization servicesDefense Counterintelligence and Security Agency1 sourceDOGE claimed more than $1.7 billion on a Defense Health IT contract with no recorded reduction2026-08-06Elon Muskclaimed savings without altering the active health IT contractDefense Health Agency1 sourceA closed COVID testing contract released roughly $50.2 million while DOGE showed zero2026-08-06Elon Muskpublished zero for a contract with recorded deobligationsU.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 sourceHHS restored $4.5 million after DOGE claimed $6.5 million on an epidemic system2026-08-06Elon Muskcut and then extended an epidemic-notification contractU.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 sourceA $14.7 million HHS registry claim yielded $141,489 in recorded deobligation2026-08-06Elon Muskclaimed savings from routine contract closeoutU.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 sourceDOGE overstated lease savings by $81.1 million, GAO found2026-08-06Elon Muskpublished internally inconsistent lease savingsGeneral Services Administration1 sourceForty-one percent of DOGE-listed lease terminations predated DOGE2026-08-06Elon Muskclaimed credit for lease actions begun before DOGEGeneral Services Administration1 sourceOne DOGE-rescinded lease was replaced at more than $1.5 million extra per year2026-08-06Elon Muskrescinded a lease later replaced at higher costGeneral Services Administration1 sourceEU approval required divestiture of a concentrated advertising interest2026-07-22European Commissionconditionally approved acquisition after divestiture commitmentsParamount Skydance Corporation2 sourcesCarr accepted more than $63,000 in CBS- or Paramount-funded gala tickets2026-07-15Donald J. Trumpagency ethics process cleared chair's attendanceFederal Communications Commission2 sourcesExperts linked USAID cuts to weaker detection and response in the 2026 DRC Ebola outbreak2026-07-07Elon Muskcut outbreak-preparedness programs before the DRC epidemicU.S. Agency for International Development1 sourceGAO counted nearly 378,000 separations across 22 major agencies in 20252026-06-17Elon Muskcoordinated a workforce drive producing mass separationsOffice of Personnel Management1 sourceDHS staffing changed about 1 percent while most major agencies shrank2026-06-17Elon Muskpreserved department-wide headcount while FEMA capacity was disruptedU.S. Department of Homeland Security2 sourcesEducation Department staffing fell by more than 45 percent2026-06-17Elon Muskimplemented DOGE-backed staffing reductionsU.S. Department of Education1 sourceThe workforce at 22 major agencies fell by nearly 256,0002026-06-17Elon Muskdrove net federal workforce contractionOffice of Personnel Management1 sourceJustice Department closed its Paramount-WBD investigation2026-06-12U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Divisionclosed federal antitrust investigation without a challengeParamount Skydance Corporation3 sourcesPentagon announces Dell Federal Systems software purchasing agreement2026-05-27U.S. Department of Defenseawarded software blanket purchase agreementDell Federal Systems, L.P.1 sourceTrump's sons backed Powerus while the drone company sought Pentagon business2026-03-11Powerusreported bidder for Pentagon drone-manufacturing businessU.S. Department of Defense2 sourcesSSA later identified material errors in sworn descriptions of DOGE data handling2026-01-16Elon Muskgave courts inaccurate descriptions of DOGE data practicesSocial Security Administration1 sourceFifty-four children died with malnutrition complications after Kenya food-aid cuts2025-12-17Elon Muskwithheld food-aid funding despite repeated mortality warningsU.S. Agency for International Development1 sourceCrypto.com gave $1 million to Trump's inauguration and $10 million to MAGA Inc. before an SEC dismissal2025-12-16Securities and Exchange Commissionformally dismissed investigation on March 27, 2025Crypto.com5 sourcesSouth Sudan's cholera epidemic killed nearly 1,600 after warned-about aid cuts2025-12-15Marco Rubiocut response funding after explicit outbreak warningsU.S. Agency for International Development1 sourceGulf state funds supplied $24 billion of Paramount's initial WBD bid backing2025-12-10Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabiabid financing without management rightsParamount Skydance Corporation4 sourcesGulf state funds supplied $24 billion of Paramount's initial WBD bid backing2025-12-10Qatar Investment Authoritybid financing without management rightsParamount Skydance Corporation4 sourcesPentagon and Commerce announced $620 million and $50 million for Vulcan2025-11-04U.S. Department of Defense$620 million conditional loan commitmentVulcan Elements2 sourcesPentagon and Commerce announced $620 million and $50 million for Vulcan2025-11-04U.S. Department of Commerce$50 million incentive commitmentVulcan Elements2 sourcesSocial Security callback waits reached about two and a half hours2025-10-28Elon Muskreduced service capacity for beneficiariesSocial Security Administration1 sourceUSDA canceled 94 million pounds of planned food-bank deliveries2025-10-08Elon Muskcut farm-to-food-bank deliveriesU.S. Department of Agriculture1 sourceOPM could not show controls protecting classified or restricted responses2025-09-26Elon Muskcollected employee responses without documented restricted-data controlsOffice of Personnel Management1 sourceOPM's audit could not rule out unauthorized or foreign access to the email system2025-09-26Elon Muskoperated a system whose access provenance could not be fully verifiedOffice of Personnel Management1 sourceOPM's inspector general found no documented due diligence before DOGE's mass email system2025-09-26Elon Muskdeployed a workforce-data system without documented due diligenceOffice of Personnel Management1 sourceGSA rehired hundreds of workers dismissed during the DOGE purge2025-09-23Elon Muskrehired personnel after excessive DOGE reductionsGeneral Services Administration1 sourceA whistleblower alleged DOGE copied Social Security data into an unapproved cloud environment2025-08-26Elon Muskallowed DOGE handling of sensitive identity data challenged by a whistleblowerSocial Security Administration1 sourceDOGE personnel worked in live Social Security production systems2025-08-26Elon Muskgave DOGE personnel production-system privilegesSocial Security Administration1 sourceMore than 20,500 HHS workers left or were pushed out2025-08-21Robert F. Kennedy Jr.implemented an 18-percent workforce contractionU.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 source