by Ben Whedon
Musk’s review has him convinced that “the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR.”
As the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues its review of federal accounts and has already uncovered billions in wasteful spending, lawmakers in both chambers are eyeing legislation to escalate DOGE's efforts by an order of magnitude as the government faces its next budget deadline.
The Trump-created DOGE has put Washington careerists in a tizzy by highlighting billions in dubious spending or outright fraud across multiple agencies, notably the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Though DOGE originally touted plans to cut up to $2 trillion in federal spending by eliminating waste, its efforts thus far, admittedly just weeks in, have yielded smaller savings.
Despite that, Musk’s review has him convinced that “the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR.”
On the congressional side, the department has caucuses or committees in both chambers, which are taking the first steps to codify DOGE’s cuts and to substantially expand upon them. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Wednesday, held the first hearing of the Oversight Subcommittee for DOGE to explore the scope of federal waste and possible ways to reduce it.
In the Senate, lawmakers have drawn up budgetary plans for ambitious spending cuts, with some hoping to completely balance the budget based on 2025 revenue projections. The House, meanwhile, faces internal battles over the extent of the cuts it plans to make. In any case, there is sure to be a substantive budget battle in the coming months over the matter.
Senate modeling off of Clinton, Obama
Speaking on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast this week, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., outlined a budget model that begins with the spending levels of the Obama and Clinton administrations and then accounts for increases in population and inflation. Under those models, he produced four budget projections based off of those presidents' budgets, Trump’s requested funds, and pre-pandemic spending levels.
“Well, what I've done is, first of all, pointed out the insanity of going from $4.4 trillion of spending in 2019 pre-pandemic, to averaging $6.5 over the last five years,” Johnson said. “This year, [we’ll] probably hit about $7.3 trillion worth of spending. So that's 60% higher than we were spending in 2019. Our population’s grown 2%. Of course, we had Biden inflation thrown in there.”
“I went back to search for different pre-pandemic levels of spending, things that had broad bipartisan support or when we actually had a surplus,” he went on. “So first we [looked at] 1998 under Bill Clinton. He spent a little under $1.7 trillion. And what I did is I exempted Social Security, Medicare, and current interest. I use 2025, numbers for those, but all the other spending categories are increased by the growth in population, then by inflation. And so you take the $1.7 trillion of Clinton, that adjusts up to about $5.5 trillion which just happens to be what Biden was projecting for revenue for this fiscal year, we'd have a balanced budget.”
“I looked at Obama, 2014, same process went for about $3.6 trillion in spending. That'd be about $6.2 trillion, still more than a trillion less than we're spending today. Doesn't balance the budget, but gets us a whole lot closer,” Johnson continued. “The other one was 2019: $4.4 trillion. Increase that that ends up being about $6.5 trillion. I think that's still too much. But again, those are three options.”
Johnson also looked at Trump’s budget plans, indicating that taking the same approach would lead to $6.1 trillion in expenditures and that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was aiming for a budget to fund that level of spending. Johnson further lamented that the House seemed poised to shoot for minor spending cuts that would not substantively address the deficit.
“But look what the House is arguing over. They're looking at reducing spending maybe by a quarter of a trillion dollars,” he said. “I mean, I'm laying out proposals that would really reduce it by a trillion, a half or a full trillion, again, using Clinton and Obama spending levels.”
House DOGE Subcommittee eyes $1 trillion
Despite Johnson’s frustrations with the House budgetary process and their apparent inclination toward smaller cuts, the DOGE subcommittee appears interested in larger sums on par with his own projections.
During an exchange between Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Lexis/Nexis Risk Solutions CEO Haywood Talcove, the pair discussed 13-figure sums in possible savings through eliminating fraud.
“My number right now between federal, state and local government, is [that] you can save $1 trillion a year by simply putting in front-end identity verification, eliminating self-certification and monitoring the back end of the programs that are providing the benefits. Those three things,” Talcove said. “Start with those three things because they're simple. That'll take that 20% fraud rate that you're seeing in the public sector down below 5%.”
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, moreover, fumed over the estimated sums of improper payments in recent years, lamenting the disinterest of the opposition party toward addressing it.
“We're talking about $2.7 trillion in improper payments since 2003,” he said. “We're uncovering what could be the biggest money laundering scandal in American history. And the other side of the aisle could care less.”
House leadership has its own plans
While DOGE and its supportive committees might identify avenues for large cuts, the House Republican leadership seems to be at a crossroads, with Speaker Mike Johnson struggling to placate budget hawks who want deeper spending cuts.
Among the most vocal is Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., who has long sounded the alarm over deficit spending and warned that the nation was passing the buck to the next generation. Spartz has already taken potshots at her Senate colleagues over their budget plans.
“Senator [Lindsey Graham] and I probably have a different definition of what ‘fiscally responsible’ means, but up to $520B in new spending and only $5B in spending offsets does not appear to be that responsible to me,” Spartz posted on X.
Johnson, for his part, has touted the next budget resolution and that “nearly every House Republican” has been involved in the process.
“There will be ongoing debates and discussions in the coming weeks, and we remain focused on working through the process to deliver on our promises made to the American people,” he said. “There’s still much work to be done, but we are starting on the right path.”
Ben Whedon
Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/thudoge-slashes-billions-allies-congress-eye-exponential-expansion
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