DOGE says government paying for 11,020 Adobe Acrobat licenses with zero users, plus more 'idle' accounts

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk’s efforts to optimize public spending in the United States, has put the spotlight on a recurring problem: The waste of money on software licenses that government agencies pay for but don't use.

Recent audits at departments such as the Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) have revealed alarming numbers of inactive licenses, leading to immediate steps to cut costs and save taxpayers millions of dollars.

The HUD case is one of the most prominent. According to a DOGE post on X, an initial audit found that the department was paying for "11,020 Adobe Acrobat licenses with zero users," in addition to other significant examples of waste.

The findings detailed "35,855 ServiceNow licenses across three products, of which only 84 are used," "1,776 Cognos licenses, with only 325 in use," "800 WestLaw Classic licenses, using only 216," and "10,000 Java licenses, of which only 400 are active." "All are being fixed," DOGE assured in the same message, promising quick solutions to this waste.

Elon Musk, the key head of DOGE, did not hesitate to point out the magnitude of the problem.

"There are vast numbers of unused software licenses in every part of the government. Your tax dollars are being wasted," he wrote on X in commenting on DOGE's HUD release.

His message reinforces a position Musk has consistently maintained: the need to eliminate wasteful spending in the federal government.

The problem is not limited to HUD

DOGE has identified similar patterns at other agencies. For example, at GSA, which has 13,000 employees, a post on X highlighted that the agency paid for "37,000 WinZip licenses," "19,000 training software subscriptions," and "7,500 project management software seats for a division with only 5,500 employees." In addition, "three different ticketing systems running in parallel" were detected, evidencing costly redundancies. "Solutions are actively being worked on," DOGE stated at the time.

The response from the GSA was immediate. Stephen Ehikian, the agency's acting and deputy administrator, wrote on X: "Hope we didn't make you wait too long... within 3 hours of @DOGE post, @USGSA is taking immediate action to reduce $5.5M of IT spend & working to identify additional reductions across all categories—ensuring strong stewardship of your tax dollars."

Days later, DOGE reported that GSA had made significant progress, eliminating "114,163 unused software licenses and 15 underutilized or redundant software products," achieving an annual savings of $9.6 million.

A GSA spokesperson explained to Fox News Digital that these actions are in response to a broader effort, "In support of the administration’s priorities, efficiency and good stewardship, GSA is currently undertaking a review of its contracts and resources, including IT resources, to ensure our staff can perform their mission in support of American taxpayers. GSA has taken immediate action to fully implement all current executive orders and is committed to taking swift action to implement any new executive orders." 

Other departments have also been singled out

At the SBA, with about 8,000 employees and contractors, DOGE found that there were "10 software products with more than 10,000 licenses," including "17,580 unused ServiceNow licenses costing more than $2 million annually."

Meanwhile, at SSA, it identified "4 redundant survey tools with costs between $118,000 and $1.8 million per year," plus "10,000 UI Path licenses, of which only 5,011 are in use," and "20,600 Tableau licenses, with only 11,560 in use."

The DOGE GSA X account reacted quickly to these revelations, tweeting "Not for long..." alongside a scissors emoji, suggesting impending cuts. This proactive approach has been a constant in DOGE's communications, combining public exposure of waste with promises of immediate action.