GAO report finds DOGE overstated $110bn in savings and could not verify most claims
The watchdog said 96% of grant savings lacked documentation and 108 lease terminations were already planned before DOGE existed.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
GAO report finds DOGE overstated $110bn in savings and could not verify most claims
Photograph: CBS News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- The Government Accountability Office found $110bn in savings claimed by DOGE were either incorrect or lacked evidence, as reported by CBS News and Government Executive.
- GAO determined 108 of 264 lease terminations DOGE credited itself for were already scheduled for elimination before DOGE was created in January 2025.
- The watchdog could not verify 96% of the savings DOGE reported for grants, according to the CBS News report.
- 206 employees worked for DOGE between January 2025 and January 2026, with 128 separating by the end of that period, as Government Executive reported.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
96/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
28/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
The Department of Government Efficiency, created by executive order in January 2025 and led by Elon Musk, claimed to have saved the U.S. government $110 billion through contract, lease and grant terminations. A Government Accountability Office report released on 6 August 2026 found those savings were either inaccurate or unsupported by evidence. The audit covered the period from 20 January 2025 to 7 July 2026.
GAO reported that 108 of the 264 leases DOGE said it terminated were already in the process of being eliminated before DOGE existed. The watchdog also found DOGE claimed to have saved $1.7 billion by identifying a Pentagon IT contract for termination but did not follow through on either terminating or reducing its funding. For grants, GAO could not verify the method used to calculate 96% of the savings DOGE reported.
The report noted that 206 employees worked for DOGE between 20 January 2025 and 31 January 2026, with 128 separating by the end of that period. Agencies did not provide records for ethics training or financial disclosures for DOGE employees, leaving GAO unable to determine whether those requirements were met. DOGE itself did not respond to GAO’s requests for information or interviews.
DOGE concluded operations on 4 July 2026, though the executive order that established it renamed an existing White House office as the U.S. DOGE Service, which may continue some of its work.
What the coverage left out
None of the digests from the left-rated outlets mentioned the GAO’s finding that DOGE did not follow its own stated methodology for calculating savings. The right-rated digest did not report the number of DOGE employees or the lack of ethics documentation. The centre-rated reports did not include the detail that 108 lease terminations were already planned before DOGE was created.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 6 Aug 2026, 17:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
GAO report finds DOGE overstated $110bn in savings and could not verify most claims
IBTimes UK — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- The four left-rated reports led on the scale of the inaccuracies in DOGE’s savings claims. Government Executive and Raw Story highlighted the GAO finding that 96% of grant savings could not be verified. Government Executive also led on the number of DOGE employees and the lack of ethics documentation, reporting that 206 people worked for DOGE and that 128 had left by January 2026. The Washington Post and IBTimes UK digests both noted that billions of dollars in DOGE’s public tally could not be substantiated.
- Government Executive’s full report described Elon Musk as the "de facto head of DOGE" and noted that 27 DOGE employees, including Musk, were classified as special government employees, which raised conflict-of-interest questions. The outlet also reported that DOGE spearheaded civil service reductions that decreased the federal workforce by more than 350,000.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The two centre-rated reports focused on the GAO’s findings about DOGE’s overstated savings. CBS News, in its full report, led on the $110 billion in savings that were either incorrect or unsupported, and quoted Senator Gary Peters calling DOGE "a slapdash and deceptive effort that misled the American people." Political Wire’s digest noted that DOGE took credit for lease cancellations that were already underway before the group existed.
Right
1 rated outlet
- The single right-rated digest, from the Washington Times, led on the GAO audit questioning 96% of DOGE’s savings claims. The digest described DOGE’s savings as "exaggerated" and noted that much of the claimed savings never materialised.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- DOGE claims unravel in scathing new government report (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- Elon Musk's DOGE made big errors in claims of government savings, GAO finds (opens The Washington Post in a new tab)
The Washington Post — is The Washington Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Watchdog puts new numbers on the size of DOGE, but many details remain unknown as agencies refuse to turn over information (opens Government Executive in a new tab)
Government Executive
- Elon Musk Under Fire After GAO Audit Found Treasury Payment System User Was Granted Delete Access (opens IBTimes UK in a new tab)
IBTimes UK — is IBTimes UK biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2Right
1Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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