Elon Musk says his team at DOGE is finding waste all over the federal government—and cutting it fast.

The DOGE Chief said during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday that the agency expects to save more than $150 billion in taxpayer money by the end of fiscal year 2026 by cracking down on waste and fraud.

An initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020 revealed the following:
– 24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits
– 28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254M in benefits
– 9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) April 10, 2025

“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 on Thursday.

“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.

Contract update!

In the last two days, agencies terminated 108 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $205M and savings of $70M, including a $14K @HHSGov contract for an “executive transformational leadership training program” and a $5.2M @USOPM contract to “provide… pic.twitter.com/XK1g0UbdQg

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) April 9, 2025

“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.

The meeting followed DOGE’s announcement just one day earlier that it had canceled 108 government contracts labeled as wasteful.

DOGE said the contracts had a ceiling value of $250 million, and cutting them will save $70 million.

Examples included a $14,000 contract from the Department of Health and Human Services for an “executive transformational leadership training program,” and a $5.2 million agreement with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management for “strategic advisory and assistance to improve and transform current processes and organizational systems.”