3 days ago
DOGE slashes over $5 million by cutting thousands of unused software licenses
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saved over $5 million a year after discovering several agencies paid for far more software than they were actually using.
For example, the IRS was paying for 3,000 licenses for software but only used 25. Once DOGE discovered the waste, it cut the remaining 99% of the licenses.
"Agencies often have more software licenses than employees, and the licenses are often idle (i.e. paid for, but not installed on any computer)," DOGE wrote in a post on X. "These audits have been continuously run since first posted in February."
The Department of Labor slashed 68% of unused "project planning" software licenses, DOGE noted, and the Securities and Exchange Commission cut 78% of the remote desktop software programs it was paying for after finding the commission was only using 22% of the programs.
According to DOGE, the three changes saved over $5 million a year.
DOGE raised a red flag in February that agencies were paying for more software licenses than employees when it shared a post about the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
With 13,000 employees, GSA was paying for 37,000 licenses for WinZip, a program used to archive and compress files.
The agency also pays for 19,000 training software subscriptions, 7,500 project management software seats for a division with only 5,500 employees and three different ticketing systems.
The most recent post comes as billionaire Elon Musk steps down as the face of DOGE.
While DOGE was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the budget, its efforts led to roughly $175 billion in savings due to asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment cuts and other ways to eliminate costs, according to an update on DOGE's website.
The savings translate to about $1,087 in per taxpayer, the website notes.
Musk told reporters in the Oval Office Friday the savings will continue to build, and he is confident total cuts will amount to $1 trillion in the coming years.
"The DOGE influence will only grow stronger," Musk said. "I liken it to a sort of person of Buddhism. It's like a way of life, so it is permeating throughout the government. And I'm confident that, over time, we'll see $1 trillion of savings, and a reduction in $1 trillion of waste, fraud reduction."
