The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker (MWDT) reveals Musk has overstated verified DOGE savings by at least $96.4 billion, 1,121 percent.
I keep telling people DOGE savings are wild exaggerations. We now have a way to track DOGE claims.
Please consider The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker that I shorten to MWDT.
Elon Musk claims that the U.S. DOGE Service (DOGE) — a small group of Musk associates embedded in virtually every department of the federal government — have already saved taxpayers over $100 billion. In an appearance on Fox Business this week, Musk claimed he was saving $4 billion per day and was on track to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget.
Most of these purported “savings,” however, are not backed up with any details or documentation. In other cases, DOGE has provided documentation, but the documents reveal that DOGE has grossly overstated the potential savings to taxpayers.
That is why, today, we are launching the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker. The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker allows anyone to easily cut through the spin about DOGE and see how much savings can be verified. It also allows the public to go deeper and see what is being cut and who is being impacted. It will be updated weekly.
Verifiable Canceled Funding ($8.6 billion)
This includes the amount of savings that can be verified based on the information provided by DOGE. Most Verifiable Canceled Funding comes from canceled contracts. But Musk Watch has determined the actual potential savings, rather than the inflated values provided by DOGE.
Here is how it works. For each contract, there are three key figures: the “Obligated Amount,” the “Current Award Amount,” and the “Potential Award Amount.” The Obligated Amount is the amount the agency has obligated itself to spend. DOGE calculates the savings by taking the “Potential Award Amount” and subtracting the “Obligated Amount.” The “Potential Award Amount” is the value of the contract if all options, renewals, extensions, and expansions of the contract are exercised.
“The ‘Current Award Amount’ is a better way of determining what the government has committed to a contract,” Jacob Leibenluft, the former Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget told Musk Watch. By using “Potential Award Amount” instead, Leibenluft explained, DOGE is taking credit for saving money that the government was not required to spend and might never have been spent under any administration.
Musk Watch calculates the savings by taking the “Current Award Amount,” and subtracting the “Obligated Amount.” This results in a significantly lower estimation of savings.
The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker also includes real estate savings in this category since DOGE does provide specific addresses, even though the real estate savings are also somewhat inflated. A Washington Post analysis found that many of the savings “were calculated by assuming that those leases would otherwise have continued for another five years” even though many were scheduled to expire within the next two years.
The total Verifiable Canceled Funding, as calculated by the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker, is currently $8.6 billion. This means the top line claim of savings by DOGE, $105 billion, overstates the verified savings by 92%.
Mish Note: 105 is an overstatement by 1,121 percent. If you prefer, the result is only 8.2 percent of the claim.
Other Caveats
Even the Verifiable Canceled Funding as determined by the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker may still overstate the real savings to taxpayers.
First, since there is a delay in federal contract databases, we have to assume that all the contracts that DOGE says it canceled are actually canceled. But more than 1000 contracts that have appeared on the DOGE.gov website at one point were subsequently removed. So some of the current contracts that DOGE says it has canceled may not actually be canceled.
Second, canceling a contract that is paid for by funds appropriated by Congress does not automatically decrease the budget. Savings claimed by DOGE for canceled contracts may be “illusory” because the agency is still “required to spend the money” appropriated by Congress for the same statutorily authorized purpose.
Illusory Savings
That last point is very important.
Judges have ruled, and correctly so, that USAID cannot be halted unilaterally.
I discussed that in Rubio Cancels 83 Percent of USAID Programs Following 6-Week Review
Really? No, not quite. Read the fine print. Then let’s discuss the possibilities.
Marco Rubio Full Statement on X
After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID. The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States. In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department. Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.
Did you catch the key phrase? Here it is: “In consultation with Congress“.
Cutting 83 percent of the items (the above are major categories, not items), could cut anywhere from 1 percent to 99+ percent of the budget.
My guess is 5 to 10 percent. And there will be a battle in Congress over every item.
Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Pause on USAID Payouts
On March 5, I commented Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Pause on USAID Payouts
Here is a conversation with a constitutional law expert friend (CLEF) of mine regarding my post. He graduated top of Harvard Law Review and has argued many cases before the Supreme Court.
CLEF: Today’s win was procedural. I.e., the standards for injunctive relief were met and pending a final decision, payments can continue. One of the standards for an injunction is that the party seeking the injunction is likely to succeed on merit.
Me: I was aware that this was preliminary. But Trump did not even try to claim they can cancel all aid. That was the position of Trump and Musk in the beginning. If they cannot win on this point, how are they going to win on cancellation?
CLEF: If you can’t prevent the distribution of Congressionally approved funds, you certainly can’t shut down an agency that Congress has mandated, if that’s what you mean by “cancellation.”
Me: Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.
I wonder how many items DOGE has in the victory column that actually go out the door.
DOGE Isn’t Doing Anything
If you think logically, DOGE isn’t doing much of anything, no matter what number you assign. DOGE has not come up with a single idea that Rand Paul, me, numerous bloggers, and others have not already suggested.
And DOGE is going about things stupidly.
On February 17, I noted DOGE Makes Huge Mistake Firing Nuclear Workers, Now Seeks to Rehire Them
When you fire people without understanding what they even do, you make big mistakes.
On February 18, I noted DOGE is Careless in Operation and Reckless in Reporting
Thanks to the MWDT, we can evaluate reckless as 1,221 percent overstated, minimally.
Q: Will that stop massive exaggeration of Musk’s claims?
A: Of course not. Why would it?
Regardless of what Congress does, everyone should cheer Rubio going about this the correct way.
Now, we will get something done, legally, with no risk of court interference. We should have started here in the first place.
Meanwhile …
Don’t count broken eggs before the Senate and House agree to break them. And don’t chalk up Musk’s claims without understanding how exaggerated they are.
I HIGHLY encourage you to follow DataRepublican on X. She is the one running all of the database scraping that is finding all of the wasteful contracts. She is a database kernel engineer. She has the data to show the the Anti Doge site. which was created by a journalist with NO data analysis background, is incorrect in its assumptions.
Good article, but to me, the $$ savings purported by DOGE or refuted by ANTIDOGE or whatever counter analytical entity does it, are of little importance.
What is important to me, is that prior to DOGE no other government official or agency ever took on the task of discovering and publicly disclosing many of the absurd government expenditures, at least some of which seem fraudulent or borderline fraudulent; and exhibited them in the center of the town square media to be seen by Joe and Jane public, mouth agape in indignancy.
So, DOGE saving $1B or $1M or $1.00 matters little to me at this point.
People working jobs everyday 8, 10 hours per day, now know they are being ripped off.
The entirety of their salary goes to taxes for 4 months of the year and at least a portion of that is being used for useless or nonsensical studies, projects, or outright fraudulent activities.
They can’t unsee it.
Let’s use Zeldin’s EPA announcement as an example…..
Zeldin said EPA leadership identified $20b in improper/fraudulent payments to 3rd party NGOs. Do we know where the progress bar is on this example? Has he clawed back 5%? 15% so far?
The confusing part for me is trying to get a reliable timetable/progress bar of where these efforts are and what is the expected timeframe for recouping funds. I get that it may not be a flip of a switch, but some kind of dashboard would be helpful.
At the moment the grants have been terminated. The next step is actually getting the money transferred back to the EPA (or Treasury?) from Citibank.
Excellent post, thank you!
Are you all aware of what is happening, all over the world, with GOLD REPATRIATIONS?
This is a sign of stress turning into Chaos.
Mish, GOLD may well be your most important Subject matter in the coming months. We shall see.
LBMA normally settles normal deliveries in 1-3 days. It is WEEKS now. 7 WEEKS, I think. Look it up.
Reality TV administration! We saw it in Trump 1.0 and now again in Trump 2.0, but this time, the “show” is accompanied by a much higher level of damaging chaos and cruelty.
Cruelty is a “surface” word with an effort at being superficial. What I mean is that you HAVE TO SUSPEND ALL JUDGEMENTS and give up and go “propaganda style” in this post.
When my Company, with employees number in the 100’s of thousands, went through a SLUMP IN DEMAND (this is long ago, I am an old Man), we had to lay off workers to save our Company.
AND I as CEO was a “frugal type.” We controlled expenses carefully and our gross and net margins were GREAT. But, when we had six straight weeks of P.O. cancellations, from ALL over the world, and we had PRODUCT FLOATING INTO THE USA FROM TAIWAN (our suppliers), we HAD TO DO SOMETHING FAST or we would have to shut down in MONTHS. WE HAD CASH ON HAND, and were VERY WELL CONTROLLED.
The layoff notices arrived 10 December that year. I remember not sleeping for a MONTH, worried about those families.
At the surface, however (as I remained STOIC), I was hated. My VP’s were all hated.
Our Cars were all dented and scratched by laid off employees.
The press gave us poor reviews, no matter HOW LONG OUR SEVERANCES lasted. We dropped 37% of all levels. Four Directors were fired. Three VP’s. One of my founders died of a heart attack. Two others quit and never came back into the Valley and moved overseas. I see those two.
We go back to that time and realized the pain we caused. We were CRUEL in many eyes.
We made it and I kept going for 60 Mos and then my brother and Mom BOTH died the same year. My wife and I left the Silicon Valley for good after that and I sold all of my stock in 36 months and never worked again. IT worked out. I am in touch with some of my best friends from the valley and some of them are saying it looks bad there already.
CMU prof David Creswell trains MBA students for “Stress Tolerance”. Instead of avoidance, yoga, gym ==> train yourself to handle stress and have a positive attitude about stressful events. High ranking officers should train themselves in stress tolerance. Trump, after two impeachments and two assassination attempts, is more stoic. He believes that god saved his life in order to save the US.
I so agree with this, Michael. I was only 36 years old then and had never had STRESS training. It would have helped.
We were taking courses on “FEAR MANAGEMENT” which required us to FIRST AGREE that we were SCARED of things (failure, losses, canceled orders, layoffs, market forces and competition)…and it HELPED….
I would have been FAR better off getting the training that you are suggesting. Counseling!
IN FACT, it would be good TODAY, because my Wife’s Mom just died and we are struggling with Dad and his loss…and his longing for her. They are both on the verge of tears pretty much all the time now. THEY could use help NOW!
I hear do hear you. I have my own small business, but I have spent my entire career in various capacities, working with or investing in larger companies. I am an unapologetic capitalist, and I believe that creative destruction is the secret sauce to the success of capitalism. All that being said, the tenets of capitalism are not always the best answer, and it depends on the type of organization or market one is considering. For instance, the capitalistic component of how the U.S. delivers and pays for healthcare in this country for its citizens has been an utter failure compared to most other large advanced economies. Regulated electric utilities with government mandates and price controls have been, on balance, successful since the nation’s electrification nearly 100 years ago. The public sector government is not a free market capitalistic endeavor. That is not to say that government should not be run as efficiently as possible, but it is to say that government cannot and should not be organized like a private sector company that must compete or die. Government employees are public servants,and in many mission-critical areas such as defense, law enforcement, and intelligence, those employees are really no different than soldiers; they are mostly working for less than they can make in the private sector to serve their country. In exchange, they generally receive slightly better benefits than those in the private sector and are given much greater job security. That is the compact that exists between the government and many of its employees that does not exist in the private sector.
A typical ceo is between 40’s and 60’s, not in his 30″. U are still around bc u have been very young.
my condolences !
Your calculation of the actual savings is flawed, in that you make the assumption that the current award amount will be paid out 100%. The Government has the unilateral right to terminate its contracts for convenience. If the work on a contract has not been completed the remainder of the money that has not been paid out is returned to Treasury. The true savings number is likely somewhere in-between, and we won’t know the true amount of savings until those cancelled contracts are settled.
Additionally, it probably appropriate to count unspent congressional appropriations as savings. When money is appropriated by Congress for an intended purposed and has an expiration date those funds that are not obligated expire. As an example many of the funds appropriated for the Inflation Reduction Act expire 9/30/2026. If those funds are not obligated they should be considered savings.
So you are saying it’s even less
Whatever is happening with DOGE or the Cartels or Ukraine/Putin, it makes me wonder what am I missing? Is this all there is to life; just trying to count those imaginary $Billions/$Trillions? Constant analysis and argument about shit nobody really understands?
All anyone really wants to know is if their next paycheck will arrive and will they have sex Friday night.
There have been Wise men giving out great Wisdom’s dealing with Life.
Solomon, Rumi two that come to mind.
The following from a man not rated but this ranks up there with the Best of them.
“Dying is easy, Living is a pain in the Butt”
Jack LaLanne.
Putin sacked Steve Witkoff and Trump sacked Adam Buehler.
What is purpose of this?
Support your local Chuck Schemer spending package cause mustn’t believe there is huge pork in DC budget.
Where do your Tax Dollars go? You are too little people to dare ask that question.
Nope just stick your head back into the sand and celebrate cause you are getting treated just the way you deserve. As idiots.
NYA made a round trip to July 2024 high. In July 2024 the value of the 2223 co in NYSE was $28,33T. The value of NYSE is down 7% from its peak. GDP is up to $30T. The estimate ratio NYSE cap/GDP fell to: 0.93. The Dow dropped 8%. It pricked July high. Its current market cap is $20T. The ratio market cap to GDP is down 12%, The ratio: AAPL/WMT market caps is almost X5 times. AAPL is more volatile than WMT. If NYA will rise to a new all time, before dropping below Jan 2022 high, while the nominal GDP is up to $33T/$35T ==> NYA will be a bargain. If tomorrow the gov will not shutdown NYA might be a bargain in 2026/27. No recession.
How many contracts that you know of where the contractor comes in or below the obligated amount? My guess is most far exceed even the potential amount, Musk’s estimate might actually be conservative.. In any event; at least this administration is bringing to light, and acting on, the bipartisan waste fraud and abuse of the elected grifters.
Had Musk gone about business properly there would not be a court order to pay everything
This comment section just shows, how braindead conservatives are 😀
Like Schumer gonna shut down the government over a spending bill or not shutdown the government praying he gets another month to accomplish nothing.
Keep hurling the insults cause the heads that are getting handed them is Dem progressives.
Trump next target should be the healthcare system. A few pharma and food industry co destroy our lives. Their number is small. Their power is enormous. Doctors and their addicted victims cannot fight them. It has to come from the top. Trump has to decide: save the people or the companies.
Hi, with this from you: “A few pharma and food industry co destroy our lives. Their number is small. Their power is enormous.”
…..you have made the argument for me that it will NEVER HAPPEN due to that enormous power and influence. They are BLOATED with profits and have plenty to spend.
Quits are not fired, retired or death. Under Ilan most gov workers decided to quit and get their salary until Sept. They are either employed in a new job, or not, but they were not fired, or unemployed. They are still on the gov payroll, doing nothing all day for free. No saving on them until Sept. If they are rehired they pay more taxes. Fired and retired belong to separation. A few gov workers retire every day, but they were not fired. It’s a normal attrition. The saving on them will accumulate. Gov job opening is zero. Those who quit, fired or retired are not replaced. Layoffs/ payroll is small
Alan is spelled with an “A”, Alan, not Ilan. you might want to have your spell checker checked. Also who is Alan and why are you bringing him up?
Context would add meaning to this “Alan” person you are talking about.
His biblical name is Ilan not Alan. There was no Alan 3000 years ago.
Hmmmm….
Trump is going to break it all. I think he doesn’t care anymore because there is nothing left for him to do. I think he may as well declare a state of emergency come April 20th and halt everything. I was a never a huge Trump fan but do think the country needs to be reset. We need to prioritize citizens first for the economy and stop all immigration indefinitely. I say this as an immigrant. There’s just been too much over the last 25 years.
I sure hope DOGE can cut no government expenses.
Let the swamp continue to thrive
When Ole Snots lays into you, it is best to let him finish
I think the brutal truth is, despite all the noise, heat, and light – and with the best will in the world – even with incompetent implementation, the bill is simply too large, and the diners too obese from the feast for any of it to be settled.
What then is the implication of that? Default is not an option, not by choice, it’s just not actually an option, because there’s nothing to replace it with. You don’t just like default on Friday, go partying over the weekend, and resume business on Monday.
So that leaves “inflating the debt away”… the problem with that one is, that you need to have credit expansion in the first place to generate enough currency to do that. This idea of “printers go brrr” is a complete nonsense and fallacy.
It’s probably a false dichotomy. If, hypothetically, the US debt consumed the entire budget, and the choice was between extending debt exponentially, or just not paying it, in scenario 1, who buys the debt? If nobody does, it’s value drops and rates fly.
So what then? You just don’t pay? Then all those creditors (after all the rage and lawsuits) dry up, their money evaporates. Mass layoffs, no pensions, society breaks down as unemployment balloons, and we’re into a monster depression.
Interestingly, that clairvoyant chap, the one who “predicted” Trump’s shooting and the New Orleans attack, says that’s what he sees. Might I suggest that you don’t need to be a psychic to see any of those things, they are all real impending risks.
The issue of deep spending cuts is bound to be entangled in Congress, whose powers extend to the expenditure of federal funds, as per the terms of the U.S. Constitution.
To slash costs, Musk has stepped on a lot of toes. A lot of the business of politics is the avoidance of stepping on toes. This is a lesson Joseph McCarthy learned in the 1950s Communist witch-hunts. Even with the winds of history at his back, McCarthy threatened too many established interests with his pursuit of phantasms and ghosts. There may have been a few Communists, but most of his threats were all hot air and blustery. In a similar fashion, Musk may have slain a few dragons but most of his targets have been obvious wyverns that any archer could have targeted.
Elon Musk is already getting hated as a right-wing South African interloper. The public arena in the United States is decidedly Left-Wing and this casts a long, dark shadow over Musk’s affairs that cannot easily be escaped from. Mark my words, this will come to taint his legacy in time.
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You can read more of my writings by visiting: dark. sport. blog — on the net!
One thing you can always count on Trump to do is overplay his hand. Musk is far too drunk on his wealth and power to attempt to control his impulses and lack of empathy. Like it or not, our government is at the end of the day a collection of public servants. People like Trump and Musk are probably the least equipped morally, ethically, or emotionally to be effective public servants who exist.
Sounds like a high number based on supportable facts?
There is a simple mathematical proof that DOGE has done nothing and with achieve even less and that proof is the GOP House passing a funding bill that includes $4 trillion of NEW debt.
Once again, the logically consistency breaks down with republicans, if there is HUGE savings then there shouldn’t be any need to raise the debt ceiling. No need whatsoever. Why is it even going up if Trump is “cutting” so much and planing on saving trillions?
It’s all a dog and pony show run by a circus of clowns.
These programs and costs have been continued and expanded for years. So yes, it is fair to conclude that they would have been at least continued for many years and that the saving that DOGE is claiming are more realistic than what Musk Watch is claiming.
Nonsense
The methodology of MuskWatch seems accurate
If you wish to do a 10-Year analysis the multiply MW by 10 = $86 billion.
But some of that stuff was known to be halted.
HIs comment was not nonsense. What’s more I can’t make sense of your reply.
You seem to have a reading deficiency.
He said it could go on for years.
OK, I calculated the savings over 10 years, which by the way is how Congress does budgets
no one would argue that you (mish) make sound points about the obstacles doge faces in delivering on musk’s previous claims. BUT, to critique the net results of doge on 3.12.25 is like critiquing a distance runner 2 miles into a 100 mile race. they haven’t been at this long enough to learn what’s needed to be learned to be increasingly effective in the future. they are learning on the fly as there is no precedent for what they’re doing. at mile 100, will it be $2t? i doubt it, but for crying out loud, they haven’t even meaningfully gotten started yet …
Geez Mish. Whose side are you on? We have a two trillion deficit and an administration that is trying to do something about it. After only 50 days in, I think much progress has been made. Has it been perfect, no. Should it continue, yes.
In general, he hates Trump & Musk, likes some of the things they’re doing, but doesn’t like their methods.
Also, he’s running a web site to make money, so he has to post controversial articles to make money. It’s what keeps us coming back.
wait … do you mean to tell us that michael jordan’s secret to success wasn’t wheaties after all? how dare you ….
popular.info??? Your sources are becoming more obscure and extreme left with time. What’s next? Undisclosed sources?
‘DOGE Isn’t Doing Anything’
LOL! Tell that to the Democrats pulling their hair out and terrorizing charging stations and dealerships.
Wait and see. I don’t think anyone knows yet.
Musk should stop any effort to reduce Government waste as it only brings increasing complaints. Musk has to learn to just stick his head in the sand as it has been the usual Government policy for decades already. Ignorance is Bliss to many folks is seems.
“Ignorance is Bliss to many folks is seems.” Especially MAGA, MAGA=AINO (American In Name Only)
What good does it for Mish to point out the fact that the benefits of the whole DOGE program is more hype than real benefits, if you all you can do is plead for a bit more time for everything to miraculously work.
If you really want to cut the budget you will need to cut the military costs, cut medicaid and medicare by denying expensive end of life care – and raising taxes. (Oh no, we could never raise taxes on the wealthy, could we?)
Cut medicaid and medicare by cutting COST of service not by denying care.
I am happy the work is being done. A country as rich as ours should have no National Debt.
As usual, Mish complaining again, you’d think you would appreciate the attempt at slowing the fiscal hemorage.
Give it some time, were only in the first inning of DOGE Ball.
yes, early days, very early days, You don’t stop an avalanche in a single second. No supermen on this earth., Just mortals doing our best.
Mish must understand compound interest, this is compound reduction, it begins slowly and and amasses itself over time.
Mish has been chronicling Musk’s lies for years dating to his days at Tesla where Full Self Driving was always just around the corner. As long as we can all agree that this far in the “first inning,” DOGE has saved $8.6B, we’re good.
What does “give them time” have to do with DOGE reporting BS figures? They can try and cut waste but at the same time provide real, accurate figures to the public. The fact that they don’t makes the whole endeavor very suspicious. They might even be more incompetent than the government they are trying to reform.
On one hand, Dems happy to promise other people’s money and credit to all for “free,” and I think of LBJ starting he ball-game in its modern dimensions, and Biden. It is good something is at least pretending to arrest this by-now, overextended, decadent process. On the other hand, here are two all-time purveyors of business vaporware — Trump and Musk. They may have produced some results at some points, but by now, marketing has inexorably moved to the fore. So, coasting, relatively more free-riding, plus a huge and growing megaphone (X and Fed Gov). All abbout per expectations.
I think most fail to understand the public face of DOGE was to draw ire and attention towards DOGE, while Trumps executive picks were pushed through Congress, with all except the very 1st making it.
DOGE was prestidigitation for the democrats and the media, and it worked, they were all spittle and fury at DOGE and the temerity to be cutting cushy NGO jobs out of the picture.
DOGE will, given a chance, produce spectacular results, and I say this merely by watching the federal government balloon over the decades into a fountain of fraud.
8% ? we can save that just by not paying for anymore DEI posters in librarys,schools,and government offices.
DOGE only has a brief moment to expose the fraud, and damage the Deep State’s relentless grifting income streams. They have to go fast and slash and burn at places like USAID where the corruption is undeniable, egregious, and overtly lop-sided to far-left causes that in some cases are actively undermining the nation, the truth, and our individual rights (See the nearly half-billion spent on the Orwellian nightmare of Internews alone.)
DOGE team members are the heroes in this story; not the villains. The more the Beltway parasites and regime media propagandists shriek and REEEEE!, the better off the taxpayer and our rights are. Anyone complaining is just upset they’ve had their grifting temporarily disrupted.
Bottom line, does that mean I not getting my $5000 check?
check with Hilary or whoever heads your NGO currently. Results are mixed. USAID has prioritized shredding and burning documents. Your check may have been inadvertently been burned. oops….
No check until before the midterm elections.
That would not surprise me.
I had no idea how much shade someone could get from trying to save the taxpayers money and root out corruption and fraud. Yes, it has been an imperfect process, but it’s certainly better than anyone else has has done, considering that no one else has done ANYTHING to save the taxpayers money.
Amen. Well said.
There’s no such thing as “taxpayers money” it’s all inifinity money now.
I went to that website and while it definitely has some good information, their methodology is extremely conservative and unrealistic, almost as much as musk’s reporting is overzealous. I say unrealistic because it assumes that these government agencies operate like purchasing managers in a business that are trying to protect and optimize company resources. I guess the answer lied somewhere in the middle.
What is the difference between the “current award amount” and the “obligated amount”?
It is my understanding that once a contract is signed by all parties the government is obligated to the amount of that contract. If option years are attached to a contract (potential award amount) then those option years aren’t legally biding (i.e. an obligation) until exercised. In most cases the current year award amount should equal the current year contract obligation amount.
This post sounds like an indirect attack against Trump and therefore will trigger TDS Type 2 as well as DDD (Doge Delusional Delirium).
Or countervailing cliche syndrome (CCS)?
And what is DOGE doing on the efficiency side of the equation? I see no reporting that show we have identified any system or a function that will be upgraded/fixed. Instead I simply see cutting programs. But based on IRS cuts maybe all of us should stop filing taxes. Who will notice?
Indeed. Don’t cut – print!
to the moon, Alice……
Well lets not blame the high school dropouts for everything. The American people dont want to know what the Federal government spends on either. 80% of Federal spending is on the biggees: SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Interest, defense and veterans. Federal salaries and benefits are not a big portion. So Felon Musk, even if he did add 1+1 correctly, could never make a dent in cutting spending just by cutting salaries. The American people are the ones to blame here .. we want a big welfare state and we DONT want to pay for it .. or at least we let the rich get off not paying much for it for 50+ years.
If demented Joe had said “come on man, we’re going to start a dept. of government efficiency to make government more efficient..man.” You would have praised him to the moon. Everything Trump does is stupid, everything my guy does is awesome!
You dont really think that the campaign against waste, fraud and abuse started with Donald, do you? Every major Federal department and agency has (or had) a Inspector General who did exactly that. When I worked in the Fed govt., if I could identify drivers stealing gasoline on Federal fuel cards, the OIG went after them. Musk didnt invent this.
lost in the weeds, feeling good going after eddy employee for stealing a hundred dollars of gas, while Joe Biden, or any number of Climate Change Grifters, steal millions and billions.
Eddy employee has no cover, no protectors, easy target. The NGO’s and the diffusion through offshore accounts were built by some of the best lawyers in Washington D.C. and NYC.
I don’t like people stealing gasoline, however I’d rather they chase down the people stealing oil wells first and then work their way around to the small change artists..
The people who own the oil wells own the president.
And finally we have a breakthrough! You worked for the Federal Gov.. You need not say anymore sir. Some shmuck stealing gasoline is a drop in the ocean. Think bigger.
It wasnt my job to save the world — just my little part of it. Point is, Felon isnt doing anything that will result in large amounts of savings, but it will remove many pieces of the Fed govt. getting in the way of the religious nutcases, which is the real goal. The white males win again!
As with so much from this administration, smoke and mirrors.
Good lord man, did you just wake up from a coma having missed the last 4 years?
I like your site Mish and I like your articles, you are really good with the numbers. But you seem to be a very literal person, which is good when diagnosing the economy, but not so much when it comes to politics and influence. I think you miss the forest for the trees more often than not when it comes to that.
But again, I enjoy your site, and your insight. Please keep it coming.
I think delivering the sometimes unexpected conclusion or angle is to be lauded. I have seen Mish complimenting and roasting Trump, which is refreshing given all the knee-jerks who fall to one side incessantly, with no countervailing critical thought, as in, most commenters. The latter is to me often an expression of instincts of lower-mammal attack-and-defend, i.e., of reflex, of dog-character, of reduced cognitive rigor and credibility.
Mish said “DOGE Isn’t Doing Anything”, so I ask, is that true?
Have they had NO impact? Done nothing? Or if one looked at the big picture have they brought all this fraud and waste to light for the public. Have they swayed the majority of voters, including Democrat voters, to view the cause in a positive light?
Granted they may have used some theatrics to do it, but are they truly not doing anything?
I for one think they are doing something. Quite a bit in fact.
to your point, there is no going back … and i am grateful.