DOGE said it saved the federal government $180 billion. There is reason to doubt the number.

The spectacular falling out between billionaire businessman Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, who were once united in their mission to slash federal spending, raises questions about the Department of Government Efficiency's future.

Their fight began with Musk publicly criticizing Trump-backed federal tax and spending legislation just days after he left the special adviser role Trump gave him. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination," Musk wrote June 3.  In a tweet war two days later, Musk took credit for Trump and Republicans winning in 2024, and Trump threatened to cut off Musk companies' federal contracts. 

It was a sharp turn from their May 31 farewell press conference, during which Trump thanked Musk for his effort to helm Trump's promised government efficiency commission to eliminate fraud and improper payments. Trump formed DOGE in a first-day order. Multiple lawsuits challenging DOGE's creation and actions remain pending. Musk was limited to 130 days in his role. 

During the campaign, Musk pledged to find $2 trillion in cuts. He later lowered that to $1 trillion. He left the government well under both targets.

DOGE's "wall of receipts" reported $180 billion savings from a combination of actions, including lease and grant cancellations, "fraud and improper payment deletion" and eliminating employees, as of early June.

But there are reasons to doubt that figure; DOGE's accounting has had errors and omissions. 

"Itemized, verifiable cuts — those with receipts — are roughly half that amount," Dominik Lett, a budget policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, told PolitiFact. "Of those itemized cuts, there are numerous clerical errors and inflated savings values."

And so far DOGE has not proven that it uncovered mass fraud.

A White House spokesperson said there had been 50 criminal referrals stemming from DOGE's work and pointed to three people charged for voting as a noncitizen in New York or Florida. Federal prosecutors said DOGE assisted with the cases; such cases had been prosecuted before DOGE's creation. 

Trump's promise is one of 75 Trump campaign promises that PolitiFact is tracking on the MAGA-Meter. We are evaluating the new administration's progress on Trump's 2024 campaign promises, just as we did with Barack Obama, Trump during his first term and Joe Biden.

Trump promised the commission would operate until July 4, 2026, and eliminate fraud and improper payments. We will circle back to check on DOGE's progress before it shuts down. For now this promise remains In the Works.

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