DOGE cuts will 'in all probability' increase the US deficit -- by a lot: Report [View all]

Source: The Independent

Saturday 29 March 2025 01:27 EDT



The grant, contract and budget cuts in federal agencies, along with the crippling reductions of tens of thousands of government jobs, will “in all probability” end up increasing (by a lot), rather than decreasing the nation’s deficit, which has been the stated intent, notes a new report.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hatchet man Elon Musk initially boasted that he would carve $2 trillion out of government spending — even the Trump administration works to slash the nation’s income via tax cuts that will largely accrue to the wealthy by $4.5 trillion. (The Republicans are also planning to increase military spending by $150 billion over the next five years.) Now Musk is claiming he may reach half of that goal — $1 trillion in cuts — by the end of the year..

It’s impossible to know what has actually already been cut since Musk’s “receipts” have been relentlessly riddled with significant errors that all make it look as if he has saved far more than he actually has. Jessica Riedl, a budget expert at the Manhattan Institute, recently estimated the actual savings so far at about $2 billion — one-tenth of 1 percent of Musk’s original goal of $2 trillion, The Atlantic noted in a report Friday. Prediction markets currently expect a grand total of $1 billion in savings.

Many of the cuts will actually cost, including via the taxpayer salaries going to an army of lawyers from the Department of Justice battling a cascade of court cases against the government’s dismantling that many judges have already said appears to be illegal. Damages from any illegal firings are likely also to be extremely pricey, along with buyouts and paying people on leave, who are doing absolutely no work for full salary just so Donald Trump can keep them out of the office.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/doge-increase-deficit-b2723712.html