White House defends DOGE transparency with receipts showing fraud and waste uncovered in government spending

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the transparency of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during a press briefing on Wednesday, rejecting claims that the initiative is operating in secrecy. DOGE posts their findings on an X account showing the excess contracts, waste, and fraud they have found in government.

Leavitt was asked whether the White House or Elon Musk would provide material evidence regarding Musk’s allegations of fraud within federal spending. In response, she argued that the administration has been “incredibly transparent” regarding DOGE’s operations.

“I think it’s a real fallacy that there’s this alleged lack of transparency when it comes to DOGE,” Leavitt said. “President Trump and Elon Musk have been incredibly transparent on what DOGE is doing.”

Leavitt pointed to DOGE’s X account dedicated to posting its findings as well as the team’s website that posts receipts of contracts and payments under review. To reinforce her point, she held up a document with screenshots of contracts identified by DOGE, including multiple DEI contracts that violated Trump’s policies. Leavitt also cited a $57,000 expenditure on climate change efforts in Sri Lanka, which she argued was spending that is not in the interest of the American people.

“These are the line items across the federal government that DOGE is identifying daily,” Leavitt explained. “They’re moving very fast. There’s a lot of paper that we can show but we’re happy to do it. This administration has been more than transparent about what DOGE is doing.”

She also highlighted a recent DOGE social media post about a Pennsylvania-based federal retirement processing center that still uses an outdated, manual system. DOGE has pointed out this process as another example of identifying inefficiencies in the federal government. The center is located in a limestone mine more than 200 feet underground where over 700 employees process resignations at a maximum pace of 10,000 per month.

"We are providing transparency and accessibility on a daily basis when it comes to DOGE,” Leavitt said, offering to share the DOGE daily report with reporters.

Leavitt’s remarks come as media outlets continue to scrutinize DOGE’s operations, with The New York Times reporting that Musk’s team is working in “deep secrecy” and has access to “sensitive data systems.” The White House has pushed back against such claims, arguing that the initiative focuses solely on identifying inefficient government spending.

“We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible,” Musk said during an Oval Office appearance on Tuesday. “So all of our actions are maximally transparent.”

Musk was at the White House as President Trump signed an executive order implementing the DOGE workforce initiative. The order directs the Office of Management and Budget to submit a plan to reduce the federal workforce, requiring agencies to hire no more than one employee for every four who leave. 

During the signing, Trump emphasized the initiative’s success in uncovering government waste. The president claimed his administration has found “billions” of dollars in waste since taking office.

"And when you get down to it, it’s going to be probably close to a trillion dollars. It could be close to a trillion dollars that we’re going to find that will have quite an impact on the budget,” Trump said.