More than $200 billion in government spending has been saved so far by DOGE, which comes to nearly $1,300 per taxpayer.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has terminated 123 “wasteful contracts” over the past five days with a ceiling value of $5.3 billion and savings of $4.2 billion, DOGE said in an Aug. 16 X post.
Contracts Update!
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) August 16, 2025
In the last 5 days, agencies terminated 123 wasteful contacts with a ceiling value of $5.3B and savings of $4.2B, including an $857k DOI contract for a “technical advisor, Lagos Nigeria”, a $1.5M Dept. of Treasury contract for “Word Processing and Document… pic.twitter.com/JzSSHUavlI
The canceled contracts included an $857,000 contract from the Interior Department for a technical adviser in Lagos, Nigeria, it stated.
Another canceled agreement was a $1.5 million Treasury Department contract for “Word Processing and Document Formatting Services Examination Training” for the Human Capital Office and the IRS, as well as its small business and self-employed division, according to DOGE.
A $785,000 State Department consulting contract for staffing was canceled as well, it added.
In an Aug. 17 post on X, DOGE dismissed media reports that the cost savings it reports use a faulty methodology since it is based on ceiling values of a contract—the maximum spending allowed—and not actual amounts saved.
DOGE called such reporting “a classic case of Fake News.”
“In federal contracting, ceilings matter because they are almost always maxed out,” DOGE stated.
“[For instance,] of the 5.4M awards at contract end in FY24, 98.12 percent were spent to the ceiling.”
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman backed DOGE in an Aug. 18 X post.
“@DOGE is doing great work. Thank you DOGE team!” he said.
As of Aug. 15, DOGE had saved an estimated $205 billion for the federal government, according to the initiative’s website, amounting to $1,273.29 saved per U.S. taxpayer, the department stated.
The savings have been achieved through contract and lease cancellations and renegotiations, asset sales, and grant cancellations.
The departments and agencies that have contributed to saving the most include the Department of Health and Human Services, General Services Administration, Department of Defense, Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration, and Office of Personnel Management.
The DOGE website’s Greatest Hits section said that among the “strangest, most baffling uses” of government funds canceled by DOGE include a $1.5 million grant to the Center to Advance Reproductive Justice and Behavioral Health for “black pregnant/postpartum women and birthing people.”
Other canceled contracts include a $6.9 million grant for mental health development from “an antiracist approach” and a $10 million award for “decolonizing the curriculum.”
