Federal employees can now earn up to $10,000 for spotting waste in procurement.
As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues its mission of becoming embedded in the minds and practices across the entirety of the federal government, the Trump Administration recognizes that the people who know the most about what is going on each day are the people doing the work. This incentive rollout makes waste removal in contracts a permanent fixture benefitting the American taxpayer.
“We are all DOGE”, said DOGE on X/Twitter.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury in partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the launch of the Savings Award for Verified Efficiencies (SAVE) Program. This joint initiative empowers federal employees to identify and eliminate wasteful spending in federal contracts, delivering measurable savings for taxpayers while maintaining mission readiness. Successful elements of the Treasury program may be expanded government-wide.
“Through this strengthened partnership, Treasury and GSA are setting a new standard for responsible stewardship of public funds,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Together, we are building a cost-saving model that can be scaled across government. We look forward to working with our partners across the Trump Administration to ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely and efficiently.”
Under the SAVE Program, non-Senior Executive Service (SES) federal Treasury GS or GS-equivalent employees can submit proposals for contract cancellations, de-scopes, or other cost-reducing actions within their program area. Approved actions that result in verified savings can earn employees an award of up to 5% of the savings, capped at $10,000 per contract action.
Josh Gruenbaum, Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner said, “We are proud to partner with Treasury on SAVE to facilitate the formal implementation of a proven, battle-tested process to help the government ‘Defend the Spend’. By rewarding the federal workforce, we are democratizing savings efforts across government and strengthening our collective role as responsible fiduciaries to the American taxpayer.”
GSA Acting Administrator Mike Rigas said, “The SAVE program exemplifies inter-agency collaboration at its best by combining GSA’s procurement expertise with Treasury’s fiscal oversight. By empowering frontline federal employees to act decisively on wasteful contracts, we are driving a cultural shift toward greater accountability and efficiency government-wide.”
The SAVE Program builds on insights gained from GSA’s highly successful Defend the Spend initiative, which focused on identifying areas where government contract dollars could be used more efficiently. Treasury has adapted and expanded this approach, creating a system where eligible employees can submit well-documented cost-saving proposals and, once verified, be rewarded for their contributions.
GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government. GSA manages a nationwide real estate portfolio of over 360 million rentable square feet, oversees more than $110 billion in products and services via federal contracts
Contracts Update:
Over the last 5 days, agencies terminated or de-scoped 56 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $2.5B and savings of $774M, including:
- $31.5M HHS R&D contract in the social sciences and humanities for “value based learning”
- $911k USDA consulting study contract for “convenience and variety of foods and beverages in the Thrifty Food Plan market baskets”.
- $11.9M Dept. of State contract for “professional services/consultant”.