GAO Finds DOGE-Driven DHS Contract Cuts Saved $92 Million, Not the Claimed $10.5 Billion

A Government Accountability Office report released Sept. 3, 2026, found DHS contract terminations pursued under the Department of Government Efficiency's mandate produced net savings of about $92 million, far below the $10.5 billion DHS had publicly claimed. Auditors found DHS fully or partially terminated 438 contracts between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2025, deobligating over $249 million but incurring $157 million in new costs to settle and continue canceled work.

GAO attributed most of the gap to methodology: DHS used the maximum amount that could have been spent under canceled contracts rather than money actually deobligated, and 95% of the claimed $10.5 billion traced to just 30 terminated IT contracts, for which DHS's own procurement office said it obligated over $1.7 billion through other contracts to meet the same needs. An earlier GAO report found $34.6 billion of DOGE's broader $61 billion savings claim was tied to contracts never actually canceled.

Reps. Bennie Thompson and James Walkinshaw called for Elon Musk and other DOGE officials to testify under oath; DHS said it had ended contracts "no longer mission-critical."