Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are hinting at where co-leadership is headed of newly elected President Trump The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will focus its efforts on reducing federal spending when the new administration takes office in January.
Musk, the world’s richest man known for his ambitious goals, aims to cut $2 trillion in federal spending under the initiative, while Ramaswamy, a billionaire in his own right, said That entire agencies will be “removed” under DOGE’s recommendations.
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 US Tax Code Policy
“In 1955, the US tax code contained less than 1.5 million words. Today, there are over 16 million words,” DOGE posted on its X account on November 15. “Because of this complexity, Americans collectively spend 6.5 billion hours preparing and filing their taxes each year. “It should be simplified.”
Department of Defense (DOD): Pentagon’s long-term audit is failing
Two days after the first cited post, DOGE reported that the Department of Defense had failed its 7th consecutive audit last month, noting that the DOD once again cannot fully account for its budget – which stood at $824 billion.
When Musk saw the news about the Pentagon’s latest failed audit, we wrote on X, “Sounds like a job for @DOGE!”
In a later post, Ramaswami said that Department of Education (DOE) Its third consecutive audit failed and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “showed significant deficiencies.” He also raised red flags about AmericanCorp’s budget, calling all the findings “completely unacceptable,” before adding, “It’s time for DOGE.”
Congress: Authorizes $516B for expired programs
DOGE on November 16th
Federal workforce: Ending the option for government employees to work from home
DOGE and its co-leaders have repeatedly vowed to end telework for federal employees, and after President-elect Trump, 42,000 Social Security Administration (SSA) employees will be allowed to work from home for the next five years. The Biden administration has greenlighted a last-minute deal that would expand the privilege. Leaves the office.
Ramaswamy says that most federal employees do not come to the office, and he pointed to the fact that the US government owns thousands of vacant buildings, which he called “insane” and “a job for DOGE.”
Musk pointed to a separate report Senator Joni Ernst It shows that “If you exclude security guards and maintenance personnel, the number of government employees who come in person and work 40 hours a week is close to 1%!”
He added, “Almost none.”
speeding up government projects
In an X post on December 5, DOGE pointed to several federal projects that were delayed for years due to red tape. Musk and Ramaswamy say regulation is an important part of DOGE’s purpose, which is in line with Trump’s agenda.
Ramaswami pointed out special issues How are construction being hindered due to rules?
Modernizing and finding cost-effective government IT systems
“The federal government spends 80% of its annual $100 billion IT budget maintaining legacy systems,” DOGE posted on X. “Not only are older systems more expensive to maintain, but they are also more vulnerable to hackers.”
Both Musk and Ramaswamy wrote posts saying that updating the technology is a priority, with Ramaswamy saying it is on DOGE’s “to-do list.”
National Institutes of Health (NIH): Returning the money to taxpayers
In response to a DOGE post that in 2023 NIH spent $759 million on workforce diversity and outreach, over $611,000 on “evaluating microaggressions among obese Latinx individuals” and “on the incubation of oxycodone with estrous cycles and nucleus accumbens signaling Spent $87,944 on “The Role of”. Lust in female rats,” Ramaswami wrote, “Give it back to the taxpayers $$.”
Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Ramaswamy indicated that cost-savings could be expected across the board under RFK’s watch.
Federal agencies: losses from fraud
In response to a report that the federal government loses $233 billion to $521 billion every year due to fraud, Musk responded on X, “@DOGE Drop the hammer.”
Foreign Aid: Investment Transparency
“Here’s an easy way to mine @DOGE!” Dr. Ron Paul, a longtime budget-cutting campaigner, former presidential candidate, and retired congressman, wrote on X. “End foreign aid!” It’s taking money from the poor and middle class in America and giving it to the rich in poor countries – with a cut to the facilitators in between! Americans do not want their government to borrow more money to spend on foreign aid. Furthermore, it is an unethical transfer of wealth and is unconstitutional.
Musk responded, “@DOGE will address this with full transparency for 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, along with other mandatory obligations. While several adjustment options have been introduced over the years to address the sustainability of these programs, Ramaswami said in a recent interview that it is not DOGE’s role to touch rights.
Ramaswamy told Axios at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month that it was too early to discuss any of the above rights through DOGE, adding that such reductions “would be a policy decision that rests with the voters and their representatives in Congress.” “.
However, Ramaswamy indicated that DOGE would consider stopping sending taxpayer dollars to those who are misappropriating funds under the programs.
He told the outlet, ,Right now, there are hundreds of billions of dollars flowing through all those programs that are going into the hands of people who shouldn’t even be receiving those payments under the law.
(Tags to translate)Politics(T)US news(T)Elon Musk(T)Federal budget(T)Trump transition(T)Vivek Ramaswamy
