DHS's $10.5B in projected contract savings won't fully materialize: GAO

(The Center Square) – Terminating hundreds of contracts will not deliver the $10.5 billion in projected savings the Department of Homeland Security reported, a federal watchdog found, because much of that spending is continuing through other contracts.

The Government Accountability Office reported that DHS terminated 438 contracts between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2025, resulting in net deobligations of $92 million as of March 31, 2026. The department had projected the terminations could avoid more than $10.5 billion in costs over the life of the contracts.

GAO found that 95% of the projected savings came from 30 information technology contracts whose requirements DHS could fill through other government-wide contracts. The department obligated more than $1.7 billion in fiscal 2025 through those other contracts to meet the same requirements, meaning those costs were incurred rather than avoided, GAO found.

A DHS spokesperson defended the department's broader cost-cutting in a statement, saying it has saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion without cutting law enforcement, border security or other public safety positions. DHS has cited that department-wide figure since December, and it was not part of GAO's review. The DHS spokesperson did not directly address GAO's finding on the $10.5 billion but said that "as GAO notes, some funding associated with terminated contracts may be used for other existing or new requirements."

The report was addressed to U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, along with Reps. J. Luis Correa, D-Calif., and Seth Magaziner, D-R.I. Thompson and Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., called the findings evidence that the Department of Government Efficiency's savings claims were overstated and urged Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., to convene a hearing.

Garbarino's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he would hold a hearing.

It was the second GAO report in about a month to question DOGE-driven savings claims. An August review found DOGE did not use its stated methodology to calculate most of the savings it reported from terminated contracts government-wide. GAO examined $110 billion in claimed DOGE savings from contracts, grants and leases, and found the group could not verify its method for 96% of reported grant savings and overstated lease savings by more than $80 million.