The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, has reported $65 billion in spending reductions during the first six weeks of the Trump administration.
DOGE, and Musk in particular, have drawn applause from President Donald Trump but criticism from others who cite concerns about the security of government data and the legality of some of the administration’s actions such as the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the dismissal of thousands of federal employees.
While DOGE is an advisory body that doesn’t have authority to cut funding or fire people, it’s recommendations have been acted upon by agency officials.
Here’s a look at where the agency has recommended the most cuts. Many of the cuts represent ongoing savings because the program or service would have continued for years. The total so far represents a small fraction of the total cuts Musk predicted.
Musk intends to trim $2 trillion from the nation’s budget by next year, which many analysts say is unlikely. The federal budget was $6.1 trillion in 2023 with a $1.7 trillion budget deficit.
Unused Real Estate
The General Services Administration (GSA) owns or leases more than 8,600 buildings around the country, some of which are vacant or under-occupied.
So far DOGE has recommended the cancellation of 97 leases.
The GSA owns or leases another 188 buildings that are vacant and another 96 that are at least 50 percent vacant. That’s about 28 million square feet of unoccupied space, enough to cover 140 city blocks in Manhattan.
The federal government holds about 3 million square feet of office space in Washington alone. At the Jan. 28 meeting of the Public Meetings Control Board, a report identified several Washington properties that are “under consideration for disposal, presenting an opportunity to reimagine the future of the capital city.”
Waste
Some government waste results from inattention or spending choices that simply didn’t pan out. Individuals make similar mistakes when forgetting to cancel a free trial subscription or sinking more money into a remodeling project that’s already over budget.
For example, DOGE reported that the GSA canceled more than 114,000 unused software licenses and 15 under-used or redundant software applications based on DOGE recommendations. That produced annual savings of $9.6 million.
DOGE identified a website overhaul by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that was funded with a $6 million loan from the Technology Modernization Fund. With $5 million already spent, the project was far from completion. If finished, the hosting service would have cost $400,000 per year versus the $1,000 annual fee for the current site. OPM cancelled the project.
Changed Priorities
Implementing the priorities of the Trump administration has driven some spending cuts, for example the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and gender-related programs.
That resulted in cutting $28 million in funding for a diversity and inclusion scholarship program in Burma (also known as Myanmar), $41 million for a gender equality and women empowerment hub, $373 million marked for DEI-related training grants, and $33 million for equity assistance centers.
Some cuts reflected other priority shifts, including $37 million for Pacific Islands climate finance and $1.9 billion for information technology operations in the Internal Revenue Service.
The radical reorganization of USAID, due to the administration’s America-first policy on foreign aid and questions about how the agency was using funds, has so far resulted in more than $5.2 billion in spending reductions.
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