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By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) terminated office leases in more than half of the United States this month.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Office lease closures surpassed 650 by the beginning of this month. DOGE, led by Elon Musk, is also touting savings accumulated by terminating over 16,000 combined grants and contracts, which the agency says has saved taxpayers over $54 billion.
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On Monday, DOGE announced that "approximately 7 million [Social Security] numberholders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked as deceased. Another ~5 million to go." DOGE also announced that it had deactivated more than 298,000 credit cards.
Political fights over DOGE cuts have resulted in protests nationwide, most recently this week by postal workers in over 200 cities, including Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Houston and Washington, D.C., who warn that any effort to privatize or restructure the United States Postal Service (USPS) would be a threat to employment.
What To Know
DOGE records reviewed by Newsweek show that office leases were terminated in 29 states during March:
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Illinois
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Montana
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
...
Since audits began, DOGE says 679 lease terminations have resulted in over $400 million worth of savings.
The most recent lease terminations occurred on March 13 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where a 1,920-square-foot facility for agricultural marketing was abolished. That building costs $34,856 to lease annually, and its closure is projected to save $225,272 per DOGE.
Other offices include locations housing U.S. Fish and Wildlife workers in Colorado, Montana and North Dakota.
A 35,358-square-foot National Park Service facility in Moab, Utah, with an annual lease cost of $805,408, was terminated, saving about $8.05 million. Thousands of NPS employees and employees in other governmental sectors, including the U.S. Forest Service, were terminated last month in abrupt cuts made without warning.
A 55,000-square-foot facility in Alexandria, Virginia, titled "Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery," was also nixed to save for zero cost savings in return.
As of March 26, DOGE said an estimated $130 billion had been saved through lease, grant, and contract terminations, equating to approximately $807 per U.S. taxpayer.
What People Are Saying
National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) President Randy Irwin: "President Trump is once again lying to the American people about federal employees to pursue his corrupt political agenda. The playbook of Project 2025 is simple: ruthlessly attack federal workers until they resign or are fired and replace them with those loyal not to their country or the constitution, but to President Trump."
What Happens Next
How many more leases may be terminated in the coming weeks and months is unknown.
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