Musk says DOGE set to top $150B in fraud savings in FY 2026

DOGE Chief Elon Musk says the organization is set to save the U.S. government more than $150 billion in cuts to waste and fraud in FY 2026.

Musk made the comment during a public Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday. 

“We anticipate savings in FY 26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion. And, I mean, and some of it is just absurd. Like people getting unemployment insurance who haven’t been born yet,” Musk said.

“People ask me how are you going to find waste and fraud in a government? I’m like, well, actually, just go in any direction. That’s how you find it. It’s very common. It’s, as a military would say, a target-rich environment,” he continued.

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Elon Musk attends a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

“So, I think we’re doing a lot of good, and in excellent collaboration with the Cabinet, to achieve these savings. And it will actually result in better services for the American people. And then we’re going to be spending their tax dollars in a way that is sensible and fair and good,” he added.

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Thursday’s Cabinet meeting comes less than a day after DOGE announced the cancelation of 108 “wasteful contracts” on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Trump convened a Cabinet meeting a day after announcing a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs with the exception of China. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

DOGE said the contacts had a ceiling value of $250 million and a savings of $70 million. 

The problem contracts included a $14,000 commitment by the Department of Health and Human Services for an “executive transformational leadership training program.”

Elon Musk’s Tesla showroom locations have faced repeated protests over his role in DOGE.  (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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Another was a $5.2 million contract with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human resources agency for the federal government, to “provide strategic advisory and assistance to improve and transform current processes and organizational systems.”