Musk and Trump Take on Government Waste: You Won’t Believe How Much They’re Aiming to Cut!

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk, has emerged as a central pillar of the administration’s promise to slash government overspending and eliminate waste.

Touted as a revolutionary effort to streamline the federal bureaucracy, DOGE has already made waves with aggressive actions, bold rhetoric, and a vision to reshape how taxpayer dollars are spent. But how much waste is there really, what has been done so far, and what lies ahead? The numbers and specifics might just leave you stunned.

What Has Been Done So Far?

DOGE hit the ground running, leveraging Musk’s penchant for rapid, disruptive change—think Tesla’s production lines or X’s workforce overhaul—and Trump’s unwavering support. Within weeks of its inception, DOGE gained unprecedented access to sensitive federal data across agencies like the Treasury Department, USAID, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Here’s a snapshot of the early moves:

1. Mass Layoffs and Resignations: DOGE, in tandem with OPM, initiated a controversial “Fork in the Road” program, emailing over 2 million federal workers in late January 2025 with a veiled threat: justify your work or face resignation. Musk amplified this on X, suggesting non-responders would be out. While the White House later clarified that responses were voluntary, the chaos led to thousands of legally dubious layoffs, particularly targeting probationary employees. Agencies like the IRS saw over 6,000 new hires cut by mid February.
2. Shutting Down USAID: On February 2, 2025, Musk announced plans to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which oversees roughly half of U.S. foreign aid. The agency’s website went dark, and humanitarian programs stalled globally, leaving aid workers scrambling. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on February 7. If foreign aid programs are finally axed or reduced, billions of dollars could be saved.
3. Targeting DEI and “Ideological” Spending: DOGE has axed contracts and subscriptions tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, calling them wasteful. Musk’s team also took aim at climate-related programs, aligning with conservative critiques from groups like the Heritage Foundation. These moves, while lacking detailed public breakdowns, are framed as eliminating “fraud and abuse”, though a criminal evidence has yet to surface.
4. Data Access and Disruption: DOGE operatives have accessed systems at the Treasury, General Services Administration, and even the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which Musk declared “RIP” on X. This has sparked lawsuits alleging violations of transparency laws and civil service protections, yet Musk presses on, claiming it’s all in the name of efficiency.

These actions have sown confusion and fear among federal workers, with unions decrying the “wildly inefficient” upheaval. Critics argue DOGE’s sledgehammer approach wastes more time than it saves, but supporters hail it as a long-overdue reckoning and resizing of a ever-growing government.

What Will Be Done Next?

Musk and Trump have ambitious plans for DOGE, with a self-imposed deadline of July 4, 2026, to complete their mission. Here’s what’s on the horizon:

1. Agency Reorganization: A February 11, 2025, executive order mandates agencies to submit “Agency Reorganization Plans” by March 13, prioritizing cuts to non-statutory functions. This could mean entire departments—like Education or the CFPB—face elimination, echoing Musk’s call to “delete entire agencies.”
2. Tech-Driven Cuts: Musk, a tech titan, plans to deploy AI and automation to root out inefficiencies, from tax evasion to redundant jobs. Posts on X suggest he envisions a leaner workforce, potentially slashing the 2.4 million-strong federal payroll (excluding postal workers).
3. Regulatory Rollbacks: Trump’s January 31 order to remove 10 regulations for every new one aligns with Musk’s disdain for bureaucracy. DOGE aims to slash what Musk calls “excess regulations,”. But to be fair it will potentially benefit his own companies too, like SpaceX and Tesla, which have chafed under federal oversight. Though Tesla is being targeted nation wide due to this.
4. Transparency and Public Input: Musk has pledged to post all DOGE actions online for “maximum transparency” and crowdsource waste-cutting ideas from the public. A “leaderboard” of “insanely dumb spending” is promised.

The rhetoric is bold, but execution hinges on navigating legal challenges and congressional pushback, given Congress, not DOGE, controls the purse strings.

How Large Is the Waste, and Where Is It?

The scale of government waste is a contentious question, with estimates varying wildly depending on who’s counting. Trump and Musk claim “billions and billions” in “waste, fraud, and abuse,” while Musk has floated a $2 trillion savings target—nearly 30% of the $6.75 trillion federal budget for fiscal year 2024. But what’s the reality?

• Official Estimates: A 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report pegged annual fraud losses at $233 billion to $521 billion, though this includes broader systemic issues, not just agency-specific waste. The 2023 Council of the Inspectors General report identified $93.1 billion in potential savings from fraud probes, which is a significant amount.
• Discretionary Spending: Of the 2024 budget, $1.7 trillion was discretionary (excluding mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare). Musk’s $2 trillion goal would require massive cuts or re-organizing spending on transportation, agriculture, and defense—plus dipping into mandatory spending, which experts deem somewhat politically unfeasible but worth more than $300 billions in saving.
• Specific Examples: DOGE has highlighted strange claims, like Musk’s yet unverified $50 million condom shipment to Gaza. The White House cites canceled DEI contracts and media subscriptions as “wins,” yet these are drops in the bucket. Citizens Against Government Waste suggests $377 billion in first-year savings from Medicare fraud, U.N. contributions, and agricultural subsidies.
• Ideological Targets: Critics of the program argue that much of DOGE’s focus seems ideological—DEI, climate initiatives, and foreign aid, rather than systemic inefficiency. That this reflects policy preferences, not fraud.

The eye-opening truth? Waste exists—expired programs, bureaucratic bloat, and fraud are real, but $2 trillion can be a stretch. Supporters of the cut suggest that the money can be used elsewhere to support American citizens instead of large foreign aids.

Budget experts like Brian Riedl estimate $150–200 billion in plausible savings, with anything beyond requiring program elimination, not efficiency gains. The federal workforce, at 3% of the budget ($203 billion in 2024), can’t yield massive cuts without large layoffs and cuts in services.

The Bigger Picture

Musk and Trump’s DOGE is a high stakes gamble: a Silicon Valley disruptor meets a populist firebrand to tackle a problem everyone agrees exists but few can quantify. The early chaos, layoffs, lawsuits, and stalled aid suggests a rocky road ahead. If successful, DOGE could redefine government accountability and save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

The figures are staggering: a $6.75 trillion budget, a $2 trillion dream, and a reality that might save hundreds of billions. Where the waste hides, in bloated agencies, outdated programs, or ideological boondoggles, remains to be discovered. Three things are clear: 1. America is in a deficit and debt trap, 1.83 trillion just in 2024. 2. That Musk and Trump are betting big to save as much as they can. And that 3. The taxpayer is watching closely and expect some large substantial cuts and savings.