DOGE says it has saved $160 billion. Those cuts have cost taxpayers $135 billion, one analysis says.
CBSMAY 3
Nonprofit Estimates DOGE's Costs May Outweigh Savings
Above: Protester holds a "Stop DOGE" banner in a demonstration against the Trump administration and Elon Musk-backed U.S. Department of Government Efficiency in Riverside, California, on April 5, 2025. Image copyright: David McNew/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Democratic narrative
The ever-chaotic Trump administration established a so-called government efficiency department for a cost-cutting crusade that will cost at least as much as estimates claim it's saved. It's clear that the whole initiative has nothing to do with fiscal discipline, but rather with Elon Musk attacking federal workers.
Republican narrative
Despite major legal setbacks, overpromises and some self-imposed blunders, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency has been a much-needed initiative to rein in America's bloated bureaucracy. Now, it's the time for Congress, who holds the power of the purse, to finish what the DOGE has started and deliver on substantive fiscal reform.