As of Jan. 1, 2026, the Department of Government Efficiency reports $215 billion in savings, or roughly $1,335 per taxpayer.
Established in the early months of the second Trump administration and initially led by Elon Musk, DOGE set out to eliminate waste, fraud, and inefficiency in federal spending. Early results suggest those efforts are not only trimming federal excess but also sparking a broader push for fiscal discipline at the state and local levels.
The American social contract relies upon a citizenry able to trust their government to properly steward taxpayer dollars. Waste, fraud, and abuse in programs at all levels of government undermine this trust and cost trillions of dollars over time. According to the Government Accountability Office, federal agencies reported $186 billion in improper payments across 64 programs in fiscal year 2025, with 73% concentrated in only five programs—including Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP.
DOGE notoriously facilitated restructuring at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funneled federal money into malicious and inefficient pet projects with little oversight. According to a Challenger report, “DOGE Impact” was the leading reason behind 293,753 planned layoffs by November 2025, many of which were unproductive public sector jobs. Another 21,000 layoffs can be attributed to downstream DOGE effects, reflecting the loss of federal funding to private and nonprofit entities.
DOGE’s federal momentum has also prompted analogous efficiency initiatives at the state level. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s DOGE task force conducted comprehensive reviews of local governments, state universities, and agencies, resulting in the return of $878 million in unspent federal assistance to the U.S. Treasury.
The task force’s January 2026 report documented examples of wasteful, partisan spending priorities, including Orange County’s $322,000 discrimination in government contracting disparity study, Miami-Dade County’s $2 million Office of New Americans (which provides support for illegal aliens), and Orlando’s $1.8 million budget allocation for gender-neutral bathrooms in fire stations.
Such examples of blatant fiscal irresponsibility highlight the tension between bloated budgets and fiscal discipline in municipal governance, even in conservative states.
Oklahoma’s DOGE-OK initiative, established by Gov. Kevin Stitt, produced savings of $31,652 from contract negotiations, $888,900 in terminated consulting contracts, and $2.17 million in medical marijuana job cuts. The team also leveraged process intelligence tools to identify $8.48 billion in statutory exempt purchases, $190 million in flagged purchase card transactions, and $3 billion in off-contract spending.
In Indiana, an extreme—possibly fraudulent—level of Medicaid billing for Autism Services was uncovered upon the release of federal Medicaid data. With the open sourcing of federal records, DOGE efforts are even more feasible. For example, Michigan’s House DOGE Caucus sought to halt fraudulent payments to an estimated 12,000 Medicaid millionaires, estimating $1.8 billion that could be prevented through efficiency efforts.
A renewed focus on fiscal transparency in federal and state benefits programs exploded, leading to a rise in citizen-led anti-fraud investigators like Nick Shirley. His inspection of Somali daycares in Minnesota exposed nearly $110 million in potential fraud in addition to the broader Feeding Our Future case, estimating $250 million in fraudulent receipts. Shirley continues highlighting waste and abuse across the country, recently exposing $170 million in potential fraud within California’s hospice and daycare programs.
To address this rampant fiscal irresponsibility, the Trump administration launched a nationwide fraud task force headed by Vice President JD Vance with the objective of ending fraud and the pilfering of taxpayer dollars. Vance recently put all 50 states on notice regarding Medicaid integrity and specifically deferred $1.3 billion in Medicaid funding to California over suspicions of fraud.
DOGE efforts are needed now more than ever. Reducing government spending by eliminating fraud and abuse may tame long-term inflationary pressures and lower debt burdens that result from wasteful federal disbursements. As the Trump administration continues to pursue fiscal responsibility at the federal level, bipartisan state commitment to oversight, efficiency, and fraud prevention is vital.
These DOGE initiatives represent a meaningful shift toward greater scrutiny of government spending that could restore institutional credibility and deliver lasting value for taxpayers.
Nicole Huyer is a Senior Research Associate in The Heritage Foundation’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.
Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal – By Nicole Huyer
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
DOGE should be at every level of government that takes our taxes. Without it only causes fraud and makes me not want to pay the government anything. I don’t mind paying them if it weren’t stolen and mismanaged by incompetent politicians and bureaucrats.
Whatever happened to the ‘push’ though? We need every DOGE expert to stay and continue and for congress to act in removing every corrupt department, person, bill that provides the opportunity to steal yet again from the struggling taxpayer class.
Start with the least important bur harmful, cut the foreign aid, cut the UN off, cut the duplicating ones, stream, merge, let two do the job of three, put in able managers, forget DEI and equity, hire talent, cut off dead wood , eliminate half the management, too many cooks in the kitchen and no hiring of relatives, friends and buddies.What we have now is unsupportable, no household could survive this management.Hold everyone accountable no matter how low on the totem pole. Audit, every year. Effectiveness, if lacking, cut.Most important ,term limit, no more lifers.
This is so good to hear the spreading effects of the Federal DOGE effort.
To be honest I was a bit surprised that it was being done at state level; but that seems to be self-initiated in Red states. It takes Nick Shirley doing the investigating and uncovering it is wide-spread within Blue states, right under their leaders’ noses.
here is another reason why they hate Trump and his administration. Politicians in D.C, (democrats are the biggest offenders in this regard.) have spent decades paying lip service on doing something about waste, fraud and abuse in government. Under the Trump administration something is finally being done about it. It’s being exposed and dealt with and it’s about time.
CUT duplication
Merge like needed programs
Redefine policies
share policies
CUT waste
ID fraud
Name names
It is hard to believe that Americans can stoop so low as to steal money from the federal government. I believe they look around and see the U.S. giving money to other countries, and to causes in America that later proves fraudulent. But really this gives no one the right to steal government funds in any situation. When you look in the mirror you need to be able to see an honest man or woman staring back at you. That is the test, be honest with yourself, are you staring at an honest person. Even if the answer is no, you can change.
Many people discover this as they age, as time grows short, you need to see your best friend when you look at that mirror.
Democrats will fight this every step of the way. Waste, fraud and abuse is how they operate. Being a pathological liar is a requirement to be a good democrat. Joe Biden represents the best they have to offer . . . .
Good luck with that. I applaud them in their efforts.
But I am afraid gubmint scumbags are too deeply imbedded, and enabled, to do away with. A NOBLE endeavor, but it is akin to keeping the waves off the beach, with but a broom at your side….
Yup.
Not noted in this article is the effect DOGE had on bureaucratic “red tape”. Cutting back on convoluted and unnecessary rules and regulations also has a positive effect on how our taxes are spent.
Yes and in their desire to stop fraud theyt simply SHUT DOWN LHEAP WAS IT FRAUD TO PROVIDE HELP WITH HEAT IN WINTER FOR THE ELDERLY,DISABLED AND POOR US CITIZENS? fIrst THEY MADE APPLYING extremely DIFFICULT. That combined with the sky high gas prices have hurt us badly. And those of us who have incomes low enough for LHEAP are below the income tax level, so don’t give me that baloney.