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The Government Accountability Office found that DOGE reported $1.76 billion in savings from a Defense Health Agency IT contract that was never terminated, raising questions about how the government efficiency initiative calculated its claimed savings.
The contract provided information technology services to more than 700 military treatment facilities worldwide. According to GAO, no action was ultimately taken to terminate the contract, reduce its scope or value, or deobligate funds. As a result, the watchdog concluded that no savings were achieved.
DOGE reported $1.76 billion in savings
The contract was identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for termination in April 2025 and later appeared on its “Wall of Receipts” with approximately $1.76 billion listed as savings.
DOGE’s records showed about $1.83 billion in total contract value and roughly $62 million currently obligated. The initiative’s website said contract savings were calculated by subtracting the amount currently obligated from the total contract value. However, GAO said it could not determine how DOGE arrived at those figures because the organization did not provide the requested documentation or meet with the auditors.
The contract was never terminated
GAO found that Defense Health Agency officials later discussed the contract with DOGE. After reviewing the work being performed, DOGE agreed that no action should be taken to terminate it.
The watchdog then reviewed federal procurement data and contract documents. It found no full or partial termination, no reduction in the contract’s scope or value, and no deobligation of funds. GAO therefore concluded that no savings were achieved, despite the $1.76 billion figure remaining on DOGE’s Wall of Receipts.
The contract itself was real. It was one of six awards made by the Defense Health Agency in 2023 under a multiple-award contract vehicle with a $2.4 billion ceiling. Its services included IT support, network operations, telecommunications, database and application development, cybersecurity, and clinical informatics for military medical facilities in the United States and overseas.
GAO found more problems with DOGE’s savings claims
The military health IT contract was not the only issue identified by GAO. The watchdog reviewed DOGE’s broader claims involving federal contracts, grants, and leases reported as terminated between January 20, 2025, and July 7, 2026.
DOGE reported more than $61 billion in savings associated with 13,476 terminated contracts. GAO found that 2,503 of those contracts, representing $27.4 billion in reported savings, had no termination action recorded in federal procurement data. The watchdog also found that DOGE did not use its stated methodology to calculate the majority of the reported contract savings.
The findings do not mean that the Defense Health Agency contract never existed. Rather, the contract existed. DOGE claimed it had generated $1.76 billion in savings by identifying it for termination, but the contract was ultimately not terminated, and GAO found no resulting savings.