Federal watchdog reports scrutinize how DOGE calculates savings, but they do not establish that DOGE’s own operating expenses have grown. They distinguish reported estimates from reductions in agency commitments and from costs actually avoided—measures that are not interchangeable.
What the headline can—and cannot—establish
The available evidence does not support saying that DOGE’s own expenses are “growing larger and larger.” The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified DOGE personnel and reviewed savings claims, but the reports cited here do not provide a consistent, verified series of DOGE operating expenses over time. Federal spending, the value of terminated contracts, and DOGE’s own operating costs are different measures; none can stand in for another.
What the evidence does show is that DOGE’s savings claims require careful interpretation. A figure published by DOGE is not automatically an audited result, and a reduction in an agency’s contractual commitment is not necessarily the same amount of cash saved.
What DOGE reported on its Wall of Receipts
GAO reported that DOGE’s Wall of Receipts listed $110.34 billion in claimed savings across contracts, grants, and leases as of July 7, 2026. That is DOGE’s reported estimate, not a GAO-verified total of realized savings. GAO reviewed entries reported from January 20, 2025, through July 7, 2026, and found transparency and reliability problems, including entries that were difficult to verify. GAO also found that the Wall listed $113 million in lease savings, while summing its listed lease entries produced $53.5 million.
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The Wall showed 13,440 reported contracts, 15,887 grants, and 264 leases. In three cases, one reported contract entry represented multiple contracts, bringing the corresponding contract count to 13,476. GAO also reported that 415 leases representing about $346 million in reported savings had been removed because they were no longer being considered for termination. GAO said the Wall’s last update was January 1, 2026, although the page remained live during its review.
GAO’s review found that 43.2 percent of reported contract savings related to contracts that procurement data showed were completely or partially terminated. For the remaining contracts, GAO said they were either not terminated or could not be matched because available data were insufficient. This finding does not mean that the 43.2 percent was independently confirmed as realized savings; it describes contract status, not a final accounting of costs avoided.
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GAO described the Wall’s stated aim as presenting information “in a digestible and transparent manner consistent with applicable rules and regulations.” The watchdog’s findings show why readers need more than a headline total to judge whether reported savings were achieved.
Read GAO’s report on the Wall of Receipts.
Why a contract termination is not the same as money saved
A contract can be terminated and funds can be removed from its award, but the government may still need the same work. If it buys replacement services elsewhere, the net reduction can be smaller than the amount associated with the original contract—or disappear. GAO noted that replacing terminated work can also bring higher negotiated labor rates, escalation factors, facilities and overhead charges, subcontractor pricing, transition costs, or lost competitive-pricing efficiencies.
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In its review of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), GAO found that the department completely or partially terminated 438 contracts for convenience from January 20 through September 30, 2025. More than $1.6 billion had previously been obligated on those contracts; DHS later deobligated a net total of more than $92 million. Deobligations are funds removed from awards, not necessarily a final measure of net savings after replacement spending.
DHS also cited $10.5 billion in potential cost avoidance. GAO said this overstated actual avoided costs: the estimate used the maximum possible obligations under contracts and did not account for future replacement spending. Thirty indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity information-technology contracts made up 95 percent of that estimate. DHS had already obligated more than $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2025 through government-wide contracts to meet those requirements. The $10.5 billion figure therefore should not be read as money DHS actually saved.
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Read GAO’s DHS contract review.
Obligations, outlays, and savings are different measures
An obligation is a government commitment of funds, such as an award or contract. An outlay is money actually paid. Deobligation removes funds from an award, while potential cost avoidance estimates costs that might not occur. These measures answer different questions; a decline in one does not by itself establish an equal decline in another.
On June 8, 2025, DOGE said annual non-defense federal obligations were down 22.4 percent, or approximately $25 billion, compared with 2024. DOGE also said cash outlays would follow as obligations came due. This was DOGE’s claim about year-over-year obligations, not a GAO-verified finding that cash spending fell by the same amount or that DOGE itself saved that sum. The statement concerns the U.S. federal government’s non-defense obligations, not DOGE’s operating expenses.
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What is known about DOGE personnel—and what is not
GAO identified 206 DOGE personnel in the Executive Office of the President from January 20, 2025, through January 31, 2026; 27 were described as special government employees. Its report also described incomplete access to ethics training and disclosure records. Those findings do not establish a complete picture of compliance or noncompliance for every DOGE employee, and personnel counts are not an expense total.
The personnel report does not provide a verified operating-expense time series that would show whether DOGE’s own costs rose, fell, or stayed level. Establishing that trend would require comparable DOGE-specific financial records for multiple periods, with the scope and accounting basis made clear.
Read GAO’s report on DOGE personnel and ethics activities.
How to assess a claim that DOGE saved money
Before treating a savings figure as money actually saved, check what it measures and what costs it leaves out. A useful comparison should identify the same agency or government-wide scope, the same fiscal period, and whether it compares obligations or outlays. For terminated work, it should also account for replacement awards and transition costs, and distinguish a model or estimate from a verified result.
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- Reported savings: an estimate posted by DOGE, such as a Wall of Receipts total.
- Deobligations: funds removed from an award; they show a reduced commitment but may not reflect replacement spending.
- Potential cost avoidance: a modeled estimate of costs that might not be incurred, not proof those costs would otherwise have been spent.
- Realized savings: a net result that accounts for what the government ultimately paid, including replacement work where relevant.
- DOGE operating expenses: the organization’s own costs, which cannot be inferred from federal spending totals or contract termination values.
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