WASHINGTON \u2013 The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency says it shaved nearly $900 million from the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
But that math isn\u2019t adding up, according to both left- and right-leaning researchers who say the savings are exaggerated and a new analysis that shows it doesn’t account for roughly $400 million that was effectively wasted \u2013 not saved \u2013 by the DOGE team.<\/p>\n
\u201cDOGE has an unprecedented opportunity to cut waste and bloat,\u201d Nat Malkus, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, wrote in a blog post. \u201cHowever, the sloppy work shown so far should give pause to even its most sympathetic defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Research<\/a>\u00a0into the task force\u2019s cost-cutting measures conducted by New America, a progressive think tank, and reviewed by USA TODAY reveals layers of erroneous calculations. DOGE, spearheaded by tech billionaire\u00a0Elon Musk<\/a>, said it saved $881 million two weeks ago by\u00a0terminating<\/a>\u00a089 contracts at the Education Department\u2019s research arm; however, the real value of the contracts was closer to $676 million.<\/p>\n The DOGE team appears to have acknowledged it gave misleading estimates: DOGE\u2019s\u00a0Wall of Receipts website<\/a>\u00a0lists $489 million, not $881 million, in savings based on the same canceled contracts.<\/p>\n