By Farzan Khan 
In early 2025, the DOGE Software Licenses Audit HUD thrust a spotlight on a persistent challenge within federal technology spending: the purchase and maintenance of software licenses that go unused for long periods, effectively wasting taxpayer dollars. The audit was conducted under the banner of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative—an effort championed during the Trump administration with support from public figures, including Elon Musk—to uncover inefficiencies, redundancies, and wasteful spending across various federal agencies. One of the most prominent examples of this effort was the audit of software license spending at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where shocking disparities between purchased and utilized software licenses drew significant public attention.
Understanding the Scope of the Audit
The DOGE Software Licenses Audit HUD was designed to measure how well HUD managed its procurement and use of enterprise software licenses. Software licensing in large organizations—especially federal agencies—can be complex and involves buying access rights to tools like document editors, IT service platforms, analytics suites, and coding or development environments. In theory, acquiring licenses in bulk or through enterprise contracts can generate cost savings or ensure coverage for anticipated staffing needs. However, the audit found that in practice, the number of licenses purchased at HUD often dwarfed actual usage.
According to audit results shared publicly, the discrepancies were striking: over 11,020 Adobe Acrobat licenses were bought with zero recorded users. Similarly, nearly 35,855 ServiceNow licenses—a popular IT service management platform—were active for only 84 users. Other software tools like IBM’s Cognos (a data analytics platform), WestLaw Classic (a legal research database), and Oracle Java development licenses had large numbers of purchased seats but far fewer actual users. These gaps revealed license utilization rates so low they raised questions about procurement practices and internal tracking systems within the agency.
Financial Implications
While the audit did not always attach exact dollar figures for every wasted license, the scale of unused assets indicated millions of dollars in potential savings. Enterprise software licenses—especially for tools like Adobe Acrobat and ServiceNow—can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars per user annually when purchased under government contracts. Allocating resources to licenses that go unused, on the scale revealed at HUD, suggests substantial budget drainage when aggregated. For example, if each Acrobat license cost over $150 per year, 11,020 unused seats could represent well over $1.6 million in unnecessary spending annually. Similar math for ServiceNow and other platforms points to cumulative waste that could easily reach multiple millions, if not more.
DOGE argued that improved oversight and active decommissioning of unused or underutilized software could redirect these funds toward mission‑critical areas, such as housing services, public assistance programs, or modernization of IT operations. It also cited broader audits across federal agencies. Under DOGE’s broader efforts, agencies like the General Services Administration reportedly reduced their software portfolios significantly and saved an estimated $9.6 million by eliminating redundant and unused licenses—a trend suggesting that HUD’s case, while dramatic, was not unique.
Causes of License Waste
The DOGE Software Licenses Audit HUD highlighted several systemic causes behind these staggering disparities:
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Lack of Centralized Tracking: Without robust software asset management systems, agencies often lack up‑to‑date insights into who is actually using which licenses. This creates blind spots that result in renewing or purchasing licenses that are no longer needed.
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Bulk Procurement Practices: Government procurement often favors buying software in bulk to secure discounted pricing or to cover anticipated future needs. However, without accurate usage forecasting, this practice can lead to over‑licensing. Some of the unused licenses may have been procured deliberately as part of long‑term contracts that include extra seats for flexibility, but lack of assignment tracking meant many remained dormant.
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Organizational Complexity: Federal agencies like HUD consist of numerous divisions, offices, and regional branches, each with different software needs. This complexity can cause mismatch between procurement decisions made centrally and actual user requirements on the ground.
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Planning and Absorption Delays: Licenses can remain unused due to slow onboarding, shifting project requirements, or workforce changes. In some cases, licenses appear unused simply because they are reserved for anticipated needs that have yet to materialize.
Response and Reaction
The release of the audit findings led to a range of reactions both within government and among public commentators. Supporters of the initiative hailed the results as a wake‑up call for better financial stewardship and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent on technology. They saw the audit as a catalyst for broader reform, pressing for adoption of modern software asset management tools and real‑time dashboards that could continuously track license usage and enforce accountability.
Government officials have provided mixed responses. HUD acknowledged that some software contracts are negotiated for enterprise‑wide access and may include unassigned licenses as part of long‑term cost‑saving strategies. This nuance suggests that not all unused licenses necessarily equate to waste; some may serve as contingency or flexibility for future needs. Critics of DOGE’s approach also pointed out that simplistic interpretations—such as equating the number of licenses directly to active users—may overlook legitimate procurement strategies in federal contexts.
Broader Implications for Federal IT Spending
The DOGE Software Licenses Audit HUD emerged amid a larger conversation about federal IT modernization and fiscal responsibility. Licensing waste is just one facet of a sprawling budget that includes legacy systems, outdated procurement rules, and often fragmented oversight. The audit underscored the need for updated policies that encourage efficient license management, regular usage reviews, and contractual terms aligned with actual agency needs.
The audit also highlighted an opportunity for legislative action. Proposals such as the Software Asset Management and Optimization Services Act (SAMOSA Act) have been discussed in Congress, aiming to impose clearer guidelines and reporting requirements for software licensing and cloud subscriptions across agencies. While progress on such reforms has been slow, the public and media attention around audit results has helped sustain momentum for updating federal IT governance.
Looking Forward
The DOGE Software Licenses Audit HUD is more than a headline; it serves as a case study in the pitfalls of complex technology procurement and the opportunities for substantial savings through better oversight. Whether agencies will adopt permanent changes to prevent similar inefficiencies remains to be seen. Yet, the audit undeniably highlights that a few thousand unused licenses are not merely a clerical oversight—they represent real money that could be better deployed to achieve agency missions and taxpayer interests.
In a world where technology drives nearly every facet of government operations, streamlining software spending—from procurement to deployment—is critical. The HUD audit provides a clear signal that without active license management and transparency, even essential agencies can fall into patterns of overspending that erode public trust and strain limited budgets.