Elon Musk has embarked on an ambitious initiative dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), aimed at substantially reducing government spending in the United States. Since its establishment, Doge claims to have saved more than $10 billion weekly, especially during the Trump administration, translating to nearly $200 billion yearly, according to the former president. While this initiative has attracted significant attention, a recent investigation by BBC Verify has cast doubt on the veracity of the reported savings, revealing discrepancies and a lack of concrete evidence supporting these claims.
Doge’s primary strategy focuses on cancelling contracts, grants, and leases that were instituted by past administrations. It also aims to identify and combat fraud while trimming government workforce numbers. On April 10, 2025, Musk revised the agency’s savings target from an initial pledge of $2 trillion down to a more manageable $150 billion by the end of the fiscal year 2026. The agency’s website updates its total estimated savings regularly, which was reported at $160 billion as of April 20, although a troubling 60% of this figure lacks detailed breakdowns.
The investigation conducted by BBC Verify involved a meticulous review of data from the Doge website and an analysis of key savings claims. The results show that many of the figures provided by Doge were unsubstantiated. For instance, while the agency claimed to have saved $8 billion by cancelling a contract related to immigration, it was later revealed that the contract’s actual value was only $8 million.
In light of these findings, Doge has acknowledged the necessity of improving transparency and has committed to uploading all sources of its claimed savings. As of April 20, it claimed that receipts representing about 30% of the total savings had been posted, although the rest were cited as “unavailable for legal reasons.”
The two largest reported savings by Doge involve quantifiable savings in contracts that raise further questions about their legitimacy and basis. The largest claimed saving, which amounts to $2.9 billion, concerns a contract initiated in 2023 under President Biden for a facility intended for housing unaccompanied migrant children. Analysis pointed out that the reported savings are predicated on hypothetical scenarios regarding the contract’s total value until 2028, without taking into account that such contracts are typically reviewed annually, and renewal was never guaranteed.
Moreover, the second reported saving, relating to a contract with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), claims savings of $1.9 billion, despite documentation revealing that all expenses related to the contract were recorded as zero. This contradicted assertions of savings and raised doubts about record-keeping accuracy within government departments.
Additionally, a third significant saving of $1.76 billion pertains to a contract with the Department of Defense. The original document states a total contract value yet shows no recorded expenditure, leading to further questions regarding the methodology behind these savings assertions.
When BBC Verify contacted different administrations regarding the claims of Doge, responses were limited. Notably, officials from the Administration for Children and Families as well as the Department of Health and Human Services failed to provide clarity on the significant savings reported by Doge. Despite the intriguing figures promoted by Doge, the absence of verifiable evidence and substantial documentation raises serious concerns about the actual impact and authenticity of its cost-saving measures.
As a result, while Musk’s Doge initiative decidedly aims to cut down on government spending, the lack of corroborated details surrounding its claimed savings leaves a cloud of skepticism surrounding its effectiveness and ability to genuinely transform fiscal management within the U.S. government.
