A classic case of Fake News. This @politico article is misleading at best, and politically motivated at worst. Politico claims that DOGE’s cost savings are somehow not real because DOGE is using a “faulty” methodology predicated on ceiling values. Politico argues that the ceiling “can far exceed what the government has actually committed to pay out.” Theoretically true, practically false: the government WILL likely max out to the ceiling! In federal contracting, ceilings matter because they are almost always maxed out. For example, an analysis of the last 3 years of FPDS data shows that: -of the 5.3M awards at contract end in FY22, 97.64% were spent to the ceiling -of the 5.4M awards at contract end in FY23, 97.84% were spent to the ceiling -of the 5.4M awards at contract end in FY24, 98.12% were spent to the ceiling We think there’s a pattern here that perhaps a more intrepid reporter might have uncovered. Ceiling minus obligations is true savings in government contracting, making the $20k credit card analogy lazy and trivializing the very real work of protecting taxpayer dollars by using cheap jabs like ‘time for lunch.’ This is also why lowering ceilings is real savings. It prevents unpoliced “drunken sailor” spending. For extra measure, DOGE reviews entries with agency partners and makes adjustments as reported. We don’t pad results; the math is conservative, and the savings are real. If Politico is still struggling with 'why' ceiling is in fact the right way to measure savings and is not in fact “an accounting trick,” we invite them to personally guarantee a sample of government contracts for the full ceiling amount. That should clarify things. We can agree on one thing, though: Congress needs to pass more rescission packages so that the unused funds go back to the Treasury instead of being spent by default.
