The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is working to reduce unnecessary spending on federal contracts, and the statistics clearly reflect this effort.
Over the past week, DOGE has axed thousands of contracts totaling billions in potential ceiling value, aiming to deliver some sanity back to many American taxpayers.
Among the contracts cut? A $13.8 million “health equity” marketing research contract was allegedly created to build more “equity” in healthcare.
This isn’t the first example of an ill-defined DEI initiative burning up taxpayer dollars without any clear impact, as previously covered by DX; it’s just another chapter in DOGE’s red tape removal plan.
DOGE’s government reviews span the federal alphabet, from the Census Bureau to the Air Force to the Postal Service.
According to a recent DOGE post, USPS reviewed more than 8,600 contracts, cutting or adjusting over a thousand, with projected savings topping $188 million. Some USPS contracts included a $791,000 “negotiation skills training” contract and a $100,000 tab for an IT department’s “all hands meeting.” Yes, you read that right — $100,000 for one meeting.
The Air Force also got serious about efficiency, working with DOGE to drastically scale down its huge “Strategic Transformation Support” contract. Originally set at a whopping $2.75 billion to fund outside consultants to help with “continuous process improvement,” the project has now been slashed by over $1 billion in total projected savings.
Even the Census Bureau is under the microscope.
Beyond the decennial count, the agency also runs 102 additional surveys costing $2.2 billion. Many of these surveys, according to another post from DOGE, weren’t just unnecessary; they were flat-out unused. The agency claims many survey results aren’t analyzed or even read.
In an era where data is currency, the federal government seems to have been spending billions on unread spam.
To those who believe the government should serve the people, not feed itself, these cuts may be a good sign for more savings to come.
For a nation with $36 trillion in debt, DOGE’s cuts aren’t just a necessary step to save money; they are a long overdue symbol of reducing Washington’s thick red tape.