Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswami drop hints about where President-elect Trump’s co-heads of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will focus on cutting federal spending when the new administration takes office in January. are.
Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man known for his ambitious goals, has set a goal of cutting federal spending by $2 trillion under the initiative, while Mr. Ramaswamy, himself a billionaire, has cut federal spending by $2 trillion. Per DOGE’s recommendation, which said the entire thing would be “removed.”
FOX Business has compiled a list of what successful entrepreneurs see as opportunities for improvement, and what they say they won’t touch.
IRS: Simplifying U.S. tax policy
“In 1955, the U.S. tax code was less than 1.5 million words long. Today, it’s over 16 million words long,” DOGE posted on its X account on Nov. 15. “Because of this complexity, Americans collectively spend 6.5 billion hours preparing and filing their taxes each year. This needs to be simplified.”
Department of Defense (DOD): DoD’s chronic audit failures
Two days after the previously cited post, DOGE reported that the Pentagon had failed last month’s audit for the seventh time in a row, noting that the Pentagon once again cannot fully account for its budget ($824 billion).
When we saw the news about Mr. Musk’s latest audit failure at the Pentagon, we wrote to X: “Sounds like a job for @DOGE!”
In a subsequent post, Ramaswamy said the Department of Education (DOE) had failed three consecutive audits and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had “demonstrated significant deficiencies.” He also raised red flags about AmeriCorps’ budget, calling all findings “totally unacceptable,” before adding, “It’s time for DOGE.”
Congress: Authorizes $516 billion for overdue programs
The DOGE “Nearly $1 billion expired more than a decade ago.”
Federal Employees: Eliminates work-from-home option for government employees
DOGE and its co-leaders reiterate their pledge to eliminate telecommuting for federal employees and extend telecommuting privileges for 42,000 Social Security Administration (SSA) employees for an additional five years following President-elect Trump’s inauguration. He warned against the Biden administration’s last-minute decision to do so. Leave the company.
Ramaswamy said the vast majority of federal employees don’t show up for office, and pointed to the fact that the U.S. government owns thousands of vacant buildings, calling it “funny” and “DOGE’s job.” .
Separately, Musk pointed to a report by Sen. Joni Ernst that said, “Excluding security and maintenance personnel, the number of government workers who report in person and work 40 hours a week is close to 1%!” pointed out.
He added that it was “almost empty.”
Promotion of government projects
In a Dec. 5 X post, DOGE pointed to numerous federal projects that have been delayed for years due to bureaucratic red tape. Musk and Ramaswamy said deregulation is a key part of DOGE’s objectives and is consistent with President Trump’s policies.
Ramaswamy pointed to a particular issue of how regulations are hindering construction.
Modernize government IT systems and find cost-effectiveness
DOGE told ” posted.
Musk and Ramaswamy both wrote posts saying updating the technology is a priority, with Ramaswamy saying it’s on DOGE’s “to-do list.”
National Institutes of Health (NIH): Returning taxpayer funds
In 2023, NIH will spend $759 million on workforce diversity and outreach, more than $611,000 on “Assessing Microaggressions in Latino Individuals with Obesity,” and more than $611,000 on In response to DOGE’s post that it spent $87,944 on “The Role of the Oestrous Cycle and Nucleus Accumbens Signaling in the Hatching of Female Rats,” Ramaswamy wrote, “Give this $$ back to the taxpayers.” Ta.
President Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Ramaswamy has indicated that he expects cost reductions across the board under RFK’s watch.
Federal Government Agency: Fraud Victims
In response to reports that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion each year due to fraud, Musk responded to X by saying, “Drop the hammer on @DOGE.”
Foreign aid: investment transparency
“It’s a no-brainer for @DOGE!” Dr. Ron Paul, a longtime budget-cuts evangelist, former presidential candidate, and retired congressman, wrote of X. They take money from the poor and middle class in America and give it to the rich in poor countries, all while cutting money to middlemen! Americans don’t want their government to borrow more money to spend on foreign aid. Furthermore, this is an immoral transfer of wealth and is unconstitutional. ”
Musk responded: “@DOGE will address this issue with full transparency to the American people.”
Protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits
The largest spending program in the federal government is Social Security, followed by Medicare and Medicaid, and other mandates. Several options for adjustments have emerged over the years to address the sustainability of these programs, but Ramaswamy said in a recent interview that it is not DOGE’s role to concern itself with rights. .
Ramaswamy told Axios at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month that it was premature to discuss the aforementioned rights through DOGE and that such cuts would be “a policy decision that belongs to the voters and their representatives in Congress.” He said he was deaf.
However, Ramaswamy indicated that DOGE is considering halting taxpayer transfers to people who are unfairly pocketing funds under the program.
“Hundreds of billions of dollars are now flowing out the exits of all these programs, and ultimately it’s going to people who shouldn’t be receiving those payments, even under the law,” he told the show. It’s in the hands of someone.”
