https://theintercept.com/2025/02/20/doge-social-security-cuts-musk-receipts/ Support Us Support Us Search for: [ ] [Search] * Politics * Justice * War on Gaza * Technology * Environment * Immigration Support Us * Special Investigations * Voices * Podcasts * Videos * Documents * About * Contact Us * More Ways to Donate * Impact & Reports * Join Newsletter * Jobs * Become a Source * * * * * * * * * (c) THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Terms of Use Privacy * Politics * Justice * War on Gaza * Technology * Environment * Immigration * About * Support Us DOGE Said It Cut $232 Million From Social Security Budget. It Was Only About Half a Million. The cut, an anti-trans attack, was the latest example of confusion sown by bold claims that wither under scrutiny. [cropped] Matt Sledge February 20 2025, 3:54 p.m. Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp The Arthur J. Altmeyer Social Security Administration building at the agencys headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration and her top deputy have left following a confrontation with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team over access to data on 70 million beneficiaries, according to people familiar with the moves. Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Arthur J. Altmeyer Social Security Administration building at the agencys headquarters in Woodlawn, Md., on Feb. 19, 2025. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images The "Department of Government Efficiency" claimed to have saved the American taxpayer nearly $232 million by canceling an IT contract for the Social Security Administration. They were only off by about $231 million. In fact, the government cut only $560,000, a paltry savings generated by yet another Trump administration anti-trans attack: the elimination of a project to develop an "X" gender marker for the agency's internal databases. The Social Security Administration Wednesday confirmed the discrepancy between the DOGE claims and the actual total, which was first uncovered by The Intercept. DOGE's mixed-up math came as no surprise to Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, the director of government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, who testified before the House DOGE subcommittee last week about the shortcomings of the Elon Musk effort. "This, to me, is just part and parcel of the amateur-hour nature of what DOGE is doing," he told The Intercept. "They're going to destroy more than they help. It's absolutely counterproductive." "They're going to destroy more than they help." When Musk's "Department of Governmental Efficiency" -- officially the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization -- was first announced in November, it seemed like little more than a stunt. Immediately following Trump's inauguration, however, the initiative sprang into action with murky processes and unclear outcomes. The Social Security contract snafu is just the latest example of confusion spread by Musk and DOGE as they boast of big cuts that vanish upon closer inspection. On Monday, in response to criticisms from Democrats that the entity was not producing evidence to back up Musk's extravagant claims of success, DOGE first posted its "wall of receipts," an effort billed as follow-through on promises of transparency. The rollout since then has been anything but smooth. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that one claim of having saved $8 billion by axing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract was wildly incorrect, since the underlying contract only amounted to $8 million. On Wednesday, other media outlets such as CNN picked apart DOGE's claim to have saved $1.9 billion from USAID contracts -- the hypothetical maximum of contracts that have so far only cost the government $55 million over several years. Most Read [GettyImage] This Is the Way to Stop Elon Musk Sunjeev Bery [AP25050010] Fetterman Staff Quit Amid Frustration Over "Just Working on Israel All the Time" Akela Lacy [deportatio] Trump and Musk Delight in the Sounds of Human Suffering With Sick "ASMR" Immigrant Video Natasha Lennard The Cut That Wasn't The mislabeling of savings from cuts to the Social Security Administration stem from apparent confusion -- or misdirection by DOGE -- around a massive IT contract with Leidos, a Fortune 500 company that also contracts for defense and intelligence agencies. Since 2018, Leidos has billed $1.5 billion to the Social Security Administration through an overarching contract that currently has a ceiling of $1.9 billion. On the surface, the contract's goals of upgrading Social Security software systems seem to align with Musk's stated concerns about outdated technology. Still, DOGE claimed that it had taken a hatchet to the contract, in the process slashing $231,864,794 in government spending. We're independent of corporate interests -- and powered by members. Join us. Become a member Join Our Newsletter Thank You For Joining! Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept? [ ] I'm in Become a member By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Join Our Newsletter Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. I'm in The actual savings were limited to the funds allocated to the Gender X Marker project, and were orders of magnitude smaller: According to a Social Security spokesperson, DOGE snipped a grand total of $560,000. Somehow, by the time that cut appeared on the "wall of receipts," the amount it purported to save the government had ballooned by hundreds of millions. "The task order referenced on the DOGE receipt website includes numerous IT development efforts, one of which was Social Security's former Gender X Marker project," said the spokesperson, Darren Lutz. "While the overarching task order was not terminated, we continue to assess and identify other projects under this task order that may be cancelled or streamlined to create further cost savings." [crop-GettyImages-2194762521-e1737661831642] Related Rubio Orders State Department to Stop Issuing Accurate Passports to Trans People The cancellation of the Gender X Marker project was first reported earlier this month, when DOGE claimed that it would save over $1 million. DOGE said at the time that the project was eliminated in line with Trump's executive order stating the government would only recognize "two sexes, male and female" -- a frequent right-wing anti-trans talking point that has no grounding in biological science. In response to questions about the Social Security contract from The Intercept, a White House spokesperson gave a general defense of Musk's work. "DOGE has already identified billions of dollars in savings for American taxpayers," said press secretary Karoline Leavitt, "and President Trump will continue to direct this effort until our government is truly for the people, and by the people." Attacks on Social Security DOGE's "receipts" about the Social Security Administration contract came as its co-creator, Musk, began spreading false claims about the crucial old-age program, alarming Democrats who saw his jawboning as a prelude to benefit cuts. Congressional Democrats say they are alarmed in particular by DOGE's attempts to access recipient data, which prompted the agency's acting administrator to leave her job over the weekend. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said he had yet to see meaningful information about what DOGE has been up to. "They seem to be operating with impunity under the leadership of an unelected, unaccountable billionaire," he said. "Elon Musk's companies are supported by $15 billion in government contracts, yet he is looking at slashing Americans' hard-earned benefits to pay for trillions in new tax cuts for the wealthy." For Hedtler-Gaudette, of the Project on Government Oversight, the list of supposed savings on the DOGE "wall of receipts" had created more questions than answers. The list contains little more than a bare-bones contract description, a savings figure, and a link to a federal procurement website. "We don't have any of that additional context or analysis," he said. "We just have to take their word for it." "I don't think they've earned the benefit of the doubt." Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp WAIT! BEFORE YOU GO on about your day, ask yourself: How likely is it that the story you just read would have been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadn't done it? Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters weren't on the beat? The kind of reporting we do is essential to democracy, but it is not easy, cheap, or profitable. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. We don't have ads, so we depend on our members to help us hold the powerful to account. Joining is simple and doesn't need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. That's all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. We're independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? ( ) $15 (*) $25 ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $5 ( ) $8 (*) $10 ( ) $15 ( ) One Time (*) Monthly Donate Contact the author: [cropped] Matt Sledge sledge@theintercept.com @sledge.41 on Signal Related [crop2_GettyImages-2198425937-e1739894318691] This Is the Way to Stop Elon Musk [crop-GettyImages-2197854963-e1738879098617] Trump's Attacks on USAID Spark Fear That Lifesaving Care Will Become "Transactional" Elon Musk arrives at Donald Trump's inauguration at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 20 January 2025. DOGE Got Sued Three Times While Elon Musk Watched the Trump Inauguration Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., departs court in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Investors suing Tesla and Musk argue that his August 2018 tweets about taking Tesla private with funding secured were indisputably false and cost them billions of dollars by spurring wild swings in Tesla's stock price. Photographer: Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images Elon Musk Wants to Cut Your Social Security Because He Doesn't Understand Math Latest Stories [One-Month-of-Trump] The Intercept Briefing One Month Under Trump: Are You Keeping Up? The Intercept Briefing - Feb. 19 This week on The Intercept Briefing, politics reporters Jessica Washington and Akela Lacy assess the full scope of Trump's first month in office. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) arrives for a vote at the U.S. Capitol Feb. 18, 2025. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images) Israel's War on Gaza Fetterman Staff Quit Amid Frustration Over "Just Working on Israel All the Time" Akela Lacy - Feb. 19 A former campaign staffer said Sen. John Fetterman's single-minded focus came at the exclusion of the progressive positions he ran on. Former President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, on Sept. 27, 2024, in New York. Voices Trump Doesn't Care About Ukraine or Russia -- Just Money Aida Chavez - Feb. 19 Trump is leaving Ukraine with impossible choices: fight a losing war without U.S. support, or submit to economic vassalage. Join The Conversation * About * Support Us * Join Newsletter * Jobs * Contact Us * Policies * Terms of Use * Privacy (c) The Intercept. All rights reserved Enter your email to keep reading for free. This is not a paywall. [ ] I'm in By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Welcome! Take the next step to support The Intercept's independent journalism by becoming a member? Thank you for joining! Take the next step to support The Intercept's independent journalism by becoming a member? 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