An anonymous crypto sleuth named Momentum Chaser has called out the US Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) claims that it has saved American taxpayers $55 billion, prompting the agency to revise its figures — the latest in a series of dramatic events that are already impacting Americans.
Spearheaded by Tesla founder Elon Musk, DOGE’s website currently shows $55 billion in cuts to various sources of federal funding and shrinking certain agencies. But according to Momentum Chaser, the real figures are far lower.
US President Donald Trump has said 20% of the money “saved” by DOGE could go straight to the American taxpayer, while another 20% would be used to pay down the national debt.
News outlets like The New York Times and Huffington Post have also called out DOGE’s figures. Although they have been amended, DOGE still maintains that the final amount it has cut out of the budget is $55 billion — raising alarm bells among observers over how much the department, tasked with reducing perceived government waste, can be trusted.
DOGE savings appear lower than reported
Musk wasted no time after the temporary committee’s founding in identifying and cutting areas he believed to be wasteful in the federal government.
Musk says that he can cut some $2 trillion overall in federal spending from the federal budget at a clip of $4 billion per day. So far, the agency reports to have cut some $55 billion.
The idea for a “DOGE dividend” initially came from James Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria — a reported outside adviser to DOGE who floated the idea on X. The plan, which Musk said he would show to the president, would divide the $2 trillion by the roughly “79 million tax-paying households” that are “net payers” of income tax, resulting in a roughly $5,000 dividend per household.
Taking the $55 billion figure saved in the first 30 days of Trump’s administration at face value, DOGE would seem well on its way to meeting the $2 trillion target, but some have doubted whether the organization is accurately reporting how much it has cut.
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The pseudonymous X user Momentum Chaser pointed out several reporting errors in DOGE’s calculations. First was an $8 million Department of Homeland Security contract that was incorrectly reported as $8 billion.
Another large ticket item shows what appears to be nearly $2 billion spread across three $655 million contracts for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) — one of the first organizations targeted by DOGE.
However, DOGE reportedly counted this incorrectly as well: It was an indefinite delivery vehicle (IDV), not a contract. It was triple counted — the total amount was $655 million — and only $73 million in total was rewarded.
The poster offered several other examples, too, all of which were individually updated on the DOGE website the following day to reflect the correct amount. However, the $55 billion count stayed the same — a discrepancy also observed by The New York Times.
DOGE, for its part, maintains that it has always used the correct number and that discrepancies can occur occasionally, which it aims to quickly correct.
Controversial cuts disrupt government services
The accounting inconsistency is of particular significance given the scope and speed at which DOGE is moving and the legal controversy it has courted in the course of its activities.
Some 14 US states filed a request for a restraining order against the agency — which a federal judge denied — as DOGE cuts services and funding that many argue are essential.
According to the Associated Press, the Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides healthcare and other support for US veterans, laid off more than 1,000 employees, including researchers working on “cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics and burn pit exposure.”
It has also laid off special education and student aid specialists from the Department of Education, including a $900 million cut from the budget of the Institute of Education Sciences — a wing of the department that tracks student progress.
Further, many claim the cuts are ill-informed or reflect personal grievances that Musk himself may have with certain government agencies.
The White House felt it necessary to clarify Musk’s role amid the mounting controversies, stating on Feb. 17 that he was a special adviser to the president, is not a DOGE employee and had no authority to make decisions.
Only two days later, Trump seemed to contradict his own administration. Reuters reported that he told a crowd in Miami, “I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge.”
Controversies and accounting consistencies aside, DOGE seems to show no signs of slowing down, with the Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly next up on the chopping block .
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