DOGE's $160 billion in savings have cost $135 billion

DOGE’s $160 billion in savings have cost $135 billion

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims it has saved $160 billion by slashing government waste — but a new report says the effort may be backfiring, leaving taxpayers with a $135 billion bill this fiscal year.

According to the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service (PSP), the costs stem from tens of thousands of federal workers placed on paid leave, wrongful firings forcing expensive rehirings, and lost productivity across key agencies. The estimate doesn’t even account for the legal costs of defending DOGE’s actions or the tax revenue losses from massive IRS staff cuts.

“We haven’t seen much focus on the waste DOGE is creating,” said PSP President Max Stier. “Ultimately, it’s the public that will end up paying for this.”

DOGE’s Numbers Under Fire

PSP estimates DOGE’s government shake-up could cost taxpayers $135 billion this year alone.
Layoffs at the IRS could cost $323 billion in lost tax revenue over the next decade, Yale Budget Lab warned.
Health research cuts could trigger a $16 billion annual economic loss and 68,000 lost jobs.

Despite criticism, the White House defended DOGE’s mission:

“The American public are in lockstep with the president’s mission,” said spokesman Harrison Fields.

Meanwhile, Musk’s self-reported “$160 billion in savings” falls far short of his $2 trillion goal, and experts say major cuts to programs like Social Security and Medicare — which Trump has ruled out — would be needed to hit that number.

Fallout for Musk

Musk announced he would scale back his DOGE work starting in May, after Tesla posted a 71% drop in Q1 profits and a 20% decline in vehicle sales, partly fueled by consumer backlash over his government role.

Still, Musk said he would dedicate one to two days a week to DOGE through Trump’s term: