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DOGE refused to answer GAO's questions after audit found it overstated 'Wall of Receipts' savings

A Government Accountability Office report released August 6, 2026, found the U.S. DOGE Service consistently overstated cost-cutting savings on its public "Wall of Receipts," claiming credit for lease terminations that began before DOGE existed and for a contract cancellation that was never carried out. The audit, requested by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), found DOGE could not substantiate the methodology behind most of its reported savings -- and gave DOGE the opportunity to respond to or contest the findings, which DOGE did not do.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On August 6, 2026, the Government Accountability Office released a report finding that the U.S. DOGE Service consistently overstated the savings it publicized on its "Wall of Receipts" website, the running public tally the group used to claim credit for federal cost-cutting. GAO auditors found that, as of July 7, 2026, the site claimed $110 billion in savings across contracts, grants, and leases, but that a large share of those figures were incorrect or unsupported: 108 of 264 listed lease terminations were already underway before DOGE existed as an entity, and DOGE claimed $1.7 billion in savings from a Pentagon Defense Health Agency IT contract it never actually terminated or reduced. GAO found DOGE did not use its own stated methodology to calculate most of its claimed contract savings and could not verify the method behind 96 percent of its reported grant savings.

The audit, requested by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), concluded DOGE officials "did not accurately report" many of the initiative's actions on a website the government continued to hold out to the public as a credible accounting of taxpayer savings. GAO gave DOGE personnel the opportunity to respond to or contest its findings; DOGE did not respond to GAO's inquiries at all. Sen. Peters said in a statement that DOGE "claimed billions of dollars in savings it could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show its work."

Why we recorded this

Congressional oversight depends on the entities it examines actually engaging with it, not just on the threat of a subpoena as a last resort. After a GAO audit found the U.S. DOGE Service's public "Wall of Receipts" savings tracker overstated federal cost-cutting -- claiming credit for lease cancellations already underway before DOGE existed and for a contract termination that never happened -- GAO gave DOGE the chance to respond to or contest its findings. DOGE did not respond at all. This archive records the finding because an agency that stonewalls a congressionally-requested audit of its own public claims defeats oversight before it can even test those claims.

Sources

  1. GAO-26-108615, DOGE Wall of Receipts: More Transparency Needed on How Savings Are Derived from Contract, Grant, and Lease Terminations — U.S. Government Accountability Office primary accessed August 7, 2026
  2. DOGE's "wall of receipts" riddled with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims, congressional watchdog says — CBS News primary accessed August 7, 2026
  3. Audit finds DOGE operation overstated its savings, 'did not accurately report actions' — MS NOW (MSNBC) secondary accessed August 7, 2026
  4. Inaccurate data included in DOGE 'Wall of Receipts' report, GAO says — The Hill secondary accessed August 7, 2026

See also