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.