The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Friday that it recovered nearly $2 billion in funds “misplaced” by the Biden administration.
The massive trove belonged to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and was discovered a day after HUD Secretary Scott Turner launched a DOGE task force at his agency.
“$1.9 billion of HUD money was just recovered after being misplaced during the Biden administration due to a broken process,” DOGE posted on X.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner worked with DOGE to “fix the issue.” Getty Images
“These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed.”
The cost-cutting group, led by Elon Musk, said it “worked together” with Turner “to fix the issue and de-obligated the funds which are now available for other use by the Treasury.”
“It is astounding how much taxpayer money can be saved with even a small amount of effort,” Musk wrote on X, sharing the solicitation contracts related to the money found by DOGE.
The contracts were earmarked for Carrington Mortgage Services and Selene Finance in August 2019 and would’ve paid out $751,221,224.87 and $836,689.235.84 to each company, respectively.
Turner, a former NFL-cornerback-turned-Dallas housing developer, was confirmed by the Senate to lead HUD last week.
“We will be very detailed and deliberate about every dollar spent in serving tribal, rural and urban communities across America,” he said Thursday.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump speak to the press inside the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 11, 2025. REUTERS
“With President Trump’s leadership, business as usual – the status quo – is no longer the posture that we will take,” Turner added. “And with the help of DOGE, we will identify and eliminate all waste, fraud and abuse. “
Turner noted that HUD had already identified “$260 million in savings” before the $1.9 billion discovery.