Musk’s “Government Efficiency” Plan Wasted $21.7 Billion, Senate Report Finds
- Small Town Truth
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
Elon Musk made a promise to cut waste and save taxpayers money. Instead, a new Senate investigation says he burned through more than $21.7 billion of it.

That’s the finding from a 55-page report released by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The report says Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — known as DOGE — created more problems than it solved, and often left federal agencies worse off than before. DOGE was launched by President Trump with Musk in charge, billed as a bold plan to root out
“waste, fraud, and abuse” and save $2 trillion.
Instead, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who led the investigation, says it became “one of the most wasteful experiments in modern federal history.”
Billions Lost in Missteps
The report lists a series of expensive blunders under Musk’s watch:
$14.8 billion paid to nearly 200,000 federal employees to not work, under a “Deferred Resignation Program” Musk approved in January.
$6 billion in payroll for workers left in limbo after abrupt firings with no clear plan.
$263 million lost after Musk froze Department of Energy loans without consulting experts.
$155 million wasted on a weekly “accomplishments” email Musk required from every federal employee, with threats of forced resignation for those who didn’t comply.
$110 million in food and medical supplies that spoiled in warehouses due to poor planning.
The investigation also says DOGE squandered tens of millions more through failed projects at the National Institutes of Health and IRS, consultant overbilling, and unnecessary relocations of federal staff. Even DOGE’s own $50 million operating budget was flagged as waste, tied to Musk’s team of handpicked private-sector allies — many of whom had no government experience.
A Short and Costly Tenure
Musk resigned in May, just five months after starting the job, following a public falling-out with Trump. While Musk claimed DOGE had saved $170 billion, investigators found that number to be inflated and riddled with errors.
Sen. Blumenthal is now calling for inspectors general in 27 federal agencies to dig deeper into the damage.
“Elon Musk didn’t drain the swamp,” Blumenthal said. “He flooded it.”