The Democrat leader singled out a $318 million federal contract that was terminated, saying there is ‘no record of this solicitation.’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is disputing a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claim of saving more than $300 million on a canceled federal contract.
On Tuesday, he accused the Elon Musk-led organization and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of resisting requests for information.
“The lack of cooperation from both agencies is troubling,” Schumer wrote in an April 22 letter to OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, referring to both OPM and DOGE.
“The public has a right to access documents concerning DOGE’s reported savings. Such documents must be readily available to ensure these claimed savings are real, legitimate and truly beneficial to taxpayers.”
DOGE’s website displays a “Wall of Receipts” listing nearly 8,500 government contracts that it has terminated, saving around $30 billion. It also includes nearly 10,000 grant terminations, saving around $33 billion, as well as 643 lease terminations worth approximately $311 million.
Overall, DOGE says, the estimated savings from its efforts since it was created by President Donald Trump earlier this year total $160 billion, or around $993 per taxpayer.
Schumer focused on a specific claim reported by The New York Times that a proposed $318 million contract designed to support OPM recruitment and branding was targeted by DOGE “on its list of terminated contracts with reported savings.”
Neither OPM, which is effectively the White House’s human resources arm, nor DOGE provided information on the contract when asked by a New York Times journalist, Schumer also said.
“However, despite DOGE’s claims, there is no record of this solicitation in any federal procurement databases, and OPM has refused to release any related documentation in response to public requests,” the Democratic Senate leader said.
He then suggested that this calls into question “whether the savings claimed by DOGE” are accurate and signals a “lack of transparency” from both OPM and DOGE.
Trump has asked senior adviser and special government employee Musk and DOGE staff to find ways to reduce the size and scope of the federal government by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse.
Democrats have said that critical government services and programs may be harmed. Federal judges have blocked access to the Social Security Administration and other agencies.
Some appeals courts, however, have ruled in DOGE’s favor. In March, for example, a three-judge panel blocked a lower court decision that halted DOGE’s access at the Education Department, the Treasury Department, and OPM.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman had issued a preliminary injunction last month in federal court in Baltimore, saying that the government did not provide enough explanation about why DOGE needed the information within those agencies.
In response, Judge G. Steven Agee of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with DOGE, writing that Boardman’s decision misread legal precedent in “requiring nothing more than abstract access to personal information to establish a concrete injury.”
Meanwhile, in a separate case, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander last week again restricted DOGE officials from accessing Social Security systems unless the data had redactions and the staffers received enough training.
The Epoch Times has contacted OPM for comment. Musk has not publicly responded to Schumer’s claims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.