Elon Musk originally said he’d cut $2 trillion in federal spending. That goal was soon after cut in half. Now, the target has been slashed again.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebenen.com/post/3lmk3bxihrs2z
Elon Musk, before the election: I'll cut $2 trillion
Elon Musk, during the transition: I'll cut $1 trillion
Elon Musk, now: We're "anticipating" cuts of $150 billion.
Elon Musk, soon: Who said anything about cuts?
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/elon-musk-dramatically-lowers-doge-spending-cut-targets-rcna200813
Nevertheless, Musk, in his capacity as the leader of the quasi-governmental DOGE initiative, keeps sitting alongside powerful Cabinet secretaries, and as The New York Times noted, also continues to make news.
While stumping for Donald J. Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, Elon Musk said he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. After Mr. Trump took office and placed Mr. Musk in charge of the budget-slashing so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Mr. Musk lowered that projection by half, to $1 trillion in the upcoming fiscal year. In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Musk appeared to set his group’s goal lower still.
Nevertheless, Musk, in his capacity as the leader of the quasi-governmental DOGE initiative, keeps sitting alongside powerful Cabinet secretaries, and as The New York Times noted, also continues to make news.
While stumping for Donald J. Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign,
Elon Musk said he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. After Mr. Trump took office and placed Mr. Musk in charge of the budget-slashing so-called Department of Government Efficiency,
Mr. Musk lowered that projection by half, to $1 trillion in the upcoming fiscal year. In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Musk appeared to set his group’s goal lower still......
Either way, it’s difficult to characterize the efforts from Musk and his DOGE operation as a great success. In fact, The Wall Street Journal did a detailed analysis of daily financial statements issued by the Treasury Departmen
t since the president’s second term began, and the newspaper found that government spending since Trump returned to the White House has actually gone up by about $150 billion.
Complicating matters further,
Musk claimed at the Cabinet meeting that the administration “can anticipate savings” of $150 billion, but many of the billionaire’s other claims have been false; he and the DOGE operation haven’t substantiated his latest claims; and when Musk and DOGE have tried to provide the public with more detailed information in the recent past, much of the data was wrong.
So let’s take stock.
Musk and DOGE have now twice downgraded their spending cut targets; federal spending is going up, not down, in the Trump administration; DOGE appears to be making the government less efficient, not more; and recent polling suggests much of the American public has come to see Musk as a villain, not a hero.
The president said at the Cabinet meeting that
Musk is doing a “fantastic” job. There’s ample evidence to the contrary.
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