If you follow the news, you’ve likely encountered the phrase “waste, fraud, and abuse” numerous times. This saying is often used by those on the political right to support cutting the federal budget, particularly when it comes to reducing benefits for low-income groups or implementing large-scale layoffs of federal employees.
(One never hears those words relative to the tax loopholes that benefit the rich.)
The Epoch Times, Tom Ozimek, Reporter, 12/23/2025
DOGE Says 55 Contracts Worth $863 Million Canceled in Past 5 Days
DOGE has estimated total savings of more than $214 billion since its creation, which it says amounts to roughly $1,329 per taxpayer.
Keep in mind that 214 billion mathematically equals 1,329 per taxpayer, if there are 161,023,326 taxpayers. I don’t know whether there are that many, but the question is irrelevant. None of them saved any money because of DOGE’s actions. Not even a penny.
The reason: Federal taxes do not fund federal spending; it is instead wholly funded by federal dollar creation.
Even if the federal government collected $0 taxes, it could continue spending forever. And not just continue, but spend at double or triple its current level, and still not feel a pinch.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) stated that federal agencies have terminated or scaled back 55 contracts over the past five days, eliminating an estimated $261 million in spending tied to what the task force described as wasteful or duplicative services.
We presume that paying a masked Gestapo to arrest, jail and deport people without trial or any other proof of guilt does not fall under the “waste, fraud, and abuse” criteria. Nor does defending Donald Trump against accusations of illegal and unconstitutional actions.
Nor does it cover needlessly and without public approval the destruction of sections of the people’s house, aka the White House.
The canceled and descoped contracts had a combined ceiling value of $863 million, DOGE stated in a Dec. 22 social media post announcing its latest update.
Among the terminated agreements was a $1.6 million Housing and Urban Development contract for support management services intended to “provide coherent, accurate, comprehensive, timely and current digital news,” according to DOGE.
We certainly should not expect news from this administration that is “coherent, accurate, comprehensive, timely, or current.”
Another cancellation involved a $4.5 million Health and Human Services (HHS) consulting contract for the “coordination of quality and public reporting programs and websites.”
The latest action builds on a series of contract terminations announced by DOGE in recent weeks, as the Trump administration continues its push to reduce federal spending and shrink the federal workforce.
Earlier this month, DOGE stated that agencies had terminated or reduced 43 contracts with a ceiling value of $3.5 billion, yielding savings of $222 million.
Those included a $4.3 million Treasury Department IT contract to “develop a comprehensive strategic narrative and management approach aimed at the Human Centered Transformation and Enhanced Partnerships” and a $29 million Commerce Department consulting contract for program management services.
DOGE estimates total savings of more than $214 billion since its creation, which it says amounts to roughly $1,329 per taxpayer.
There are lies. There are damned lies. And then there is DOGE. Not a single taxpayer in America has been saved even one penny by DOGE and its cuts to federal spending.
Tell me exactly how DOGE has saved you any money.
The task force attributes the savings to a mix of asset sales, workforce reductions, interest savings, regulatory changes, grant cancellations, and the elimination of fraud and improper payments.
The HHS has accounted for the largest share of savings under DOGE, followed by the General Services Administration, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Small Business Administration, according to the task force.
The contract terminations come amid broader federal workforce reductions, part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to cut bureaucratic bloat, make government operations more efficient, and save taxpayer resources.
The so-called “savings” had four bad outcomes:
- Service to the public has declined. Try making a call to, or getting an answer from, Social Security, and you’ll see what I mean.
- The federal government pumped fewer growth dollars into the economy.
- Good people have lost their jobs.
- Good people are less likely to seek government positions because of their distrust of the government’s fairness in employment.
DOGE recently reposted a Dec. 16 statement from the Trump communications team saying federal employment had fallen to its lowest level since 2014, down by 271,000 jobs since Trump returned to office.
“Promises made, promises kept,” the post reads.
Forcing 271,000 people to be unemployed should only be a promise if you’re a billionaire, like Trump and Musk, who never need to worry about feeding their children.
DOGE has repeatedly pushed back against reports suggesting that the initiative has been dismantled or sidelined.
In November, the task force labeled a Reuters report claiming that DOGE “doesn’t exist” as “fake news,” stating that voters in the 2024 election gave the Trump administration a mandate to modernize government operations and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse.
There’s that phrase, again, “waste, fraud, and abuse,” repeated endlessly by Trumpers as their mindless, robotic mantra. Except, mass firings have nothing to do with “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Musk’s brainless chainsaw, that idiotic tool he proudly brandished at every opportunity, simply says, “Let’s just impoverish a lot of people and claim success.”
In a recent post, DOGE praised the efforts of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, who announced plans for a similar efficiency- and cost-cutting initiative at the international agency.
“We are ‘DOGE-ing’ the United Nations,” Waltz said in a Dec. 17 social media post, announcing plans to cut U.N. staffing by about 2,600 and slash its budget by 15 percent in the first year of the initiative.
Trump always has hated the UN because it won’t bow to his demands. In his 2025 United Nations General Assembly address, Trump sharply criticized the U.N. for having: “Empty words” that don’t solve wars,” saying the institution often fails to act on crises.
He claimed the U.N. is funding an “assault on Western countries, ” and that the UN’s immigration and green energy policies will ruin countries if leaders don’t put borders and sovereignty first.
He repeatedly has claimed that the UN hasn’t lived up to its potential despite “tremendous potential.”
Apparently, Trump believes cutting U.N. staffing by about 2,600 and slashing its budget by 15 percent will improve “green energy policies, solve wars, and help the UN live up to its potential.”
The Epoch Times article ends ironically, with the Big Lie:
“It’s time for the UN to get back to basics: stopping wars and preventing conflict, NOT funding bloated bureaucracy on the American taxpayer’s dime,” he wrote.
It’s not the American taxpayer’s dime. It’s not even the American taxpayer’s penny. It’s dollars the federal government creates at no cost to taxpayers.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
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A Government’s Sole Purpose is to Improve and Protect The People’s Lives.
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