Title: Elon Musk Revisits His $2 Trillion Budget Cut for Dogecoin
Since Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy announced their Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has been promising to dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy and slash spending. However, his recent remarks suggest that cutting $2 trillion might be an unrealistic goal. During a live stream on his platform, X, Musk acknowledged that getting close to this figure would be "the best-case outcome."
Experts have already voiced doubts about Musk's $2 trillion goal, considering that Social Security, Medicare, and defense spending are political third rails. These line items are difficult to cut or alter due to their popularity and political implications. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post previously pointed out that the federal budget is essentially two things: a military with a health and social insurance program attached to it.
If Musk and Ramaswamy have plans to cut popular social welfare programs, it would be a significant political move. Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute, sees DOGE as an opportunity to highlight potential areas for federal spending reduction and minimize federal interference in daily life. Cato recently suggested raising the age of Social Security eligibility, decreasing Social Security inflation adjustments, slashing Medicare spending, and allowing Medicare enrollees to manage their funds.
However, Musk has also mentioned wanting to delete regulatory agencies. Critics have pointed out that this might be challenging, given that Musk's companies have faced scrutiny from multiple agencies like the SEC, DOJ, and NHTSA. Recently, Tesla's directors agreed to pay nearly a billion dollars to settle claims of overpaying themselves through stock options.
Despite Musk's plans for DOGE, the path to achieve these goals isn't straightforward. Reducing the federal workforce is challenging due to employee appeals and Congressional authorization requirements. Deleting entire agencies or significantly changing them will require Congressional approval. The initiative's focus on expired federal spending commitments, amounting to $516 billion in 2024, might yield more tangible results.
Though DOGE has set a goal of cutting $2 trillion, achieving this target will be challenging, especially if they consider Spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Their success will depend on navigating political hurdles, complex bureaucratic processes, and gaining Congressional approval for their recommendations.
The tech mogul Musk's goal of reducing federal spending by $2 trillion could face challenges due to the popularity and political implications of programs like Social Security and Medicare, which are deeply entrenched in technology-driven policies of the future. In light of this, Alex Nowrasteh suggests that Musk and Ramaswamy's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could focus on areas like raising the Social Security eligibility age, decreasing inflation adjustments, and slashing Medicare spending to minimize federal interference and promote tech-driven innovations in the healthcare sector.
