President Donald Trump and multibillionaire Elon Musk have justified the chaotic and merciless federal cuts by the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity by claiming that they’re saving taxpayers cash.
“We’ve taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things,” Trump mentioned throughout his rambling deal with to a joint session of Congress earlier this month.
And in February, he even claimed that he would ship checks to taxpayers price 20% of DOGE’s financial savings.
Nonetheless, the nonpartisan Congressional Finances Workplace’s February Month-to-month Finances Evaluation discovered that spending is definitely greater than it was final yr, with the federal authorities spending $605 billion in February 2025 in comparison with about $567 billion in February 2024.
“The federal government incurred a deficit of $308 billion in February 2025, CBO estimates—$11 billion more than the deficit recorded last February,” the report mentioned.
Supposedly within the title of value financial savings, Trump and Musk have fired 1000’s of federal staff—lots of them veterans—with tens of 1000’s of extra cuts deliberate within the coming months.
Trump and Musk have additionally just about shuttered the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement and canceled billions in authorities grants for all the things from meals help and medical analysis funding to local weather change tasks and extra.
But these cuts haven’t made even a dent in federal spending, and as an alternative have endangered nationwide safety and public well being and threatened to ship the nation right into a devastating recession.
“No sign DOGE significantly cut spending or the deficit in February according to CBO. Federal outlays grew 7% compared to last year and the deficit grew 5%,” Brendan Duke, senior director of federal price range coverage on the Middle on Finances and Coverage Priorities wrote on X.
The truth that DOGE’s cuts have not truly saved taxpayers any cash is probably going why Musk mentioned he is now coming for Social Safety, Medicare, and Medicaid, which make up the bulk of the roughly $7 trillion annual federal price range.
The CBO report discovered that the federal government spent $7 billion extra on Social Safety funds and $6 billion extra on Medicare funds than it did in February 2024.
The federal government additionally spent $7 billion extra on curiosity, $15 billion extra on refundable tax credit for the Inexpensive Care Act, and $4 billion extra on the Division of Homeland Safety—which is finishing up Trump’s mass deportation plans.
“Most of the federal spending is entitlements. So that’s the big one to eliminate. That’s the sort of half trillion, maybe six, $700 billion,” Musk mentioned in an interview with Fox Enterprise host and Trump toady Larry Kudlow.
Already there’s been backlash to Trump and Musk’s DOGE cuts, with indignant voters exhibiting up at GOP lawmakers’ city corridor conferences throughout the nation. Republican management even advised their members to cease holding city halls altogether to keep away from any destructive interactions that may very well be used towards them in advertisements main as much as the 2026 midterms.
In accordance with The Related Press, backlash to cuts is precisely why the Trump administration is utilizing DOGE, which isn’t an official authorities group, to make the cuts fairly than depend on Congress, the place lawmakers are sometimes afraid to chop applications that would lose them reelection.
“Some members of the Trump administration got frustrated that Congress won’t cut spending and decided to go around them,” Jessica Reidl, an financial coverage skilled on the conservative Manhattan Institute, mentioned.
Each Social Safety and Medicare have overwhelming help from voters, and they’re crucial to the lives of senior and disabled People. So if Musk follows by means of on these cuts, backlash is prone to develop exponentially.
