The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency is no longer publishing details of canceled U.S. Agency for International Development contracts due to what’s described as “legal reason[s]” on its website.
The change is “related to ongoing litigation,” a White House administration official told CBS News. It is not clear which litigation challenging the dismantling of USAID caused DOGE to remove information about canceled contracts from its “Wall of Receipts” site. The official did not respond when asked for more information.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the 3,214 USAID contracts listed on DOGE’s website contain no information other than the total contract value and the amount DOGE claims to have saved by canceling them. The canceled USAID contracts represent about 45% of the total number of itemized contracts on DOGE’s website, and 57% of the $21.6 billion it claims to have saved from terminated contracts.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that DOGE likely violated the constitution when it acted to shutter USAID. The judge’s preliminary injunction prevents DOGE from taking further action related to the shutdown of USAID.
The USAID contracts alone total $12.4 billion in alleged savings, though multiple experts in federal contracting have said the method DOGE is using to calculate savings is flawed. DOGE uses the total potential value of a contract, which is often far higher than the actual amount an agency ends up spending, to estimate savings. The actual amount of funding cut as a result of USAID contract terminations is closer to $6.7 billion as of Tuesday, according to an analysis by former USAID data analyst Brian Banks.
Multiple news outlets, including CBS News, have also identified errors in DOGE’s accounting, with some contracts being double or triple counted. Many of the original errors have been removed but it’s not clear if they are still included in the total $103 billion DOGE has claimed to have saved.
DOGE, led by billionaire and President Trump’s senior advisor Elon Musk, originally touted the list of canceled contracts as evidence of increased transparency.
“We’re very public with what we do,” Musk said in an interview with Ted Cruz on March 17. “I don’t know how we could be more transparent. Literally every action that we do, small or large, we post on the DOGE.gov website.”
With the removal of the USAID contract details, it’s unclear what international aid programs the task force is ending.
CBS News obtained a list of over 5,000 terminated USAID grants, awards and contracts, up to date as of March 12. The cancellations included at least $1.39 billion in efforts to fight disease and support global health, including $1.1 billion in fighting malaria. The terminated contracts also included at least $171.7 million in programs providing access to food and clean water and $435.2 million in efforts to provide access to education abroad.
Laura Doan and
contributed to this report.
