Elon Musk’s promises of transparency as his Department of Government Efficiency continues to claim massive savings in the federal budget were thrown into doubt by a new report Thursday that uncovered still more mistakes with his alleged successes.
After the tech billionaire’s task force quietly attempted to delete its so-called “wall of receipts” when reporters identified major mistakes and falsehoods, “the group changed its tactics,” according to a report in the New York Times.
“It began making its new mistakes harder to find, leaving its already secretive activities even less transparent than before,” the report said.
But, despite the updated strategy, which included removing identifying details that allowed public fact-checks, a Times analysis still discovered another batch of mistakes that continued the DOGE trend of releasing "error-filled data that inflated its success at saving taxpayer money."
“DOGE deleted some of its largest claims about the savings from canceled contracts after news reports pointed out that they were wrong,” the publication reported. “Nonetheless, that list of canceled contracts still contains errors. On Wednesday, the group was still claiming credit for saving $1.9 billion by canceling an Internal Revenue Service contract for tech help.”
But, the analysis pointed out, “that contract was canceled under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.”
“The website posted it, deleted it, then restored it. The group has not responded to questions about why either time.”
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The Times also found that “at least five of the 20 largest ‘savings’ appeared to be exaggerated, according to federal data and interviews with the nonprofits whose grants were on the list.”
“The website is the only place where this very powerful group has given a public accounting of its work. That accounting is still incomplete: It itemizes only a fraction of the money that the group claims to have saved, $115 billion as of Wednesday,” according to the report.
Even so, it added, the data is still “extremely valuable, providing a window into the group’s priorities, and revealing its struggles with the machinery and terminology of government.”
“If the group is now going to fill its site with uncheckable claims, then it loses its value,” the Times pointed out.
“There is no reason that they should not be putting out the specifics and details behind what they’re cutting,” said Gary Kalman, executive director of the anti-corruption nonprofit Transparency International U.S., to the Times. “They are saying that they are doing things that are long overdue and widely supported by the public. If that’s true, then wouldn’t you want to make sure that you’re touting the cuts that you make?”