Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has erased hundreds of claims from its “wall of receipts,” reducing reported savings for taxpayers by $4 billion. Over 1,000 contracts were deleted or altered, including five of the seven largest savings, while approximately 1,000 smaller canceled contracts were added. This revision reflects a decline in total claimed savings from $16 billion to under $9 billion. Experts have criticized the list for errors, such as miscounting financial figures and referencing contracts no longer active. DOGE now attributes data inaccuracies to individual federal agencies. Media inquiries about these omissions went unanswered.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has removed hundreds of claims from its problematic “wall of receipts,” eliminating an additional $4 billion in purported savings that the agency asserted it had secured for American taxpayers.
Late on Sunday, the team deleted or modified over 1,000 contracts it had previously claimed to cancel, which accounted for more than 40 percent of all contracts listed on its website the prior week. The removed entries included five of the seven largest savings that were attributed to it just last week. Concurrently, the department incorporated around 1,000 new canceled contracts, which offered smaller overall savings.
This marked the second instance in a week where DOGE had retracted some of its most significant claims of success. Earlier in the week, it had eliminated all five of the largest savings it had reported when the wall of receipts, the term the agency uses for its list of canceled contracts, was first published on February 19.
Since that initial announcement, the total claimed savings from contract cuts has gradually decreased, falling from $16 billion initially to under $9 billion now.
The “wall” only highlights a portion of the cuts that Mr. Musk has implemented in government, creating challenges in verifying the assertion that his initiative has saved taxpayers more than $100 billion. However, the site serves as the only platform where the group has offered a thorough public account of its activities, allowing for a rare insight into its fundamental competence and understanding of government data.
Experts in contracting and budgeting have expressed concern over this transparency.
From its inception, the list has been riddled with inaccuracies: claims that conflated billions and millions, counted the same cancellation multiple times, or took credit for contracts that had terminated years or even decades prior. Contracting specialists remarked that these errors raised doubts about DOGE’s fundamental comprehension of the federal government, especially as Mr. Musk’s organization seeks to expedite reforms.
“Overall, there’s a certain randomness to it,” stated Jessica Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “It appears that DOGE directed certain agencies to compile random lists of contracts that may or may not still exist, and then, with inadequate data verification, uploaded it to a website and totaled the amounts. It does not seem to be centrally managed.”
Mr. Musk’s group along with the White House did not respond to inquiries regarding the recent deletions sent on Monday morning. Following reports by media outlets highlighting inaccuracies in the list, the group has added wording to its website that shifts responsibility onto individual federal agencies, stating that the dollar figures shared on its site “originate directly from agency contracting officials.”
Among the most significant claims that were removed:
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A $1.9 billion saving that the group asserted it achieved by terminating an Internal Revenue Service contract for technological assistance. Prior to Sunday night, this had stood as the largest single saving on the website. However, The New York Times reported that this contract was actually canceled in November, during President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration.
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A $149 million saving linked to the cancellation of a contract for providing three administrative assistants at the Department of Health and Human Services. Last week’s entry on the site included several inaccuracies, such as a hyperlink redirecting to a different contract with a different company that did not pertain to administrative assistants or $149 million. This entry vanished on Sunday following The Times’ mention of its inconsistencies.
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A $133 million saving that the group claimed resulted from the cancellation of a U.S. Agency for International Development contract related to operations in Libya. The contractor, Chemonics International, stated on LinkedIn last year that its work on that agreement had already concluded.
Despite the website updates, some inaccuracies lingered. As of Monday morning, the list still included claims that DOGE had saved $106 million by canceling two contracts signed by the Coast Guard for administrative support.