The Department of Health and Human Services has registered the most savings under DOGE.
Federal agencies have terminated and descoped 43 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $3.5 billion, saving $222 million in taxpayer funds, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said in a Dec. 6 post on X.
The canceled contracts included “a $4.3M Dept. of Treasury IT contract to ‘develop a comprehensive strategic narrative and management approach aimed at the Human Centered Transformation and Enhanced Partnerships,’” DOGE said.
A $29 million Department of Commerce consulting contract for “providing the necessary staff to perform Program Management, providing planning, analysis, and support in managing projects” was terminated as well, it said.
The DOGE initiative has so far saved $214 billion as of Oct. 4, which amounts to more than $1,329 per taxpayer.
The savings were achieved through a combination of asset sales, workforce reductions, interest savings, regulatory savings, fraud and improper payments elimination, and grant cancellations.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has registered the most savings under DOGE, followed by the General Services Administration, Social Security Administration, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and Small Business Administration (SBA).
In a Nov. 24 post on X, DOGE rebutted rumors that the initiative was being shut down following a Reuters article that included a quote from OPM Director Scott Kupor saying DOGE “doesn’t exist.” Kupor later claimed that the article had been selectively edited to create an attention-grabbing narrative.
DOGE said the Reuters story was “fake news,” adding that the Trump administration “was given a mandate by the American people to modernize the federal government and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.”
During an Oct. 31 interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, former DOGE head Elon Musk said DOGE was continuing to reduce waste and fraud in the government system.
Musk said that since he left the initiative in May, DOGE has become less publicized because people who oppose it now have no single person to target.
“My death threat level went ballistic, you know, was like a rocket going to orbit. But now that I’m not in D.C., I guess they don’t really have a person to attack anymore,” Musk said.
