Elon Musk has doubled down on promises to cut government spending by $1 trillion through eliminating “waste and fraud,” which would halve the federal deficit.
As head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), Musk claims they’ve saved $130 billion since Trump’s inauguration—about $2 billion daily, short of his promised $4 billion.
However, contrary to these claims, the U.S. Treasury is actually projected to spend 7.4% more in 2025 than during Biden’s final year. Fact-checking Musk’s assertions has become increasingly difficult as DOGE removed federal identification numbers from its website that would help identify specific contracts and grants.
Some claims on the DOGE website have been proven incorrect, most notably its largest claimed savings—a $1.9 trillion IT modernization contract that was actually canceled in November under the Biden administration, and according to federal records, no money was ever spent on this grant despite its authorization.