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The new heads of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have an ambitious plan cutting federal agency spending by $2 trillion, putting several agencies in the crosshairs for deep budget cuts.
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One of the DOGE leaders, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, said he aims to reduce federal spending on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Aimed at the tax authorities
The dynamic duo of Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy promised one cuts to federal agencieswith the goal of cutting the federal budget by $2 trillion.
DOGE leaders said they will pursue cuts to federal agencies they view as bloated or outdated.
Musk said one of these government agencies is the IRS, saying, “The IRS is a mess.”
The Tesla CEO pointed out that the IRS has been plagued by inefficiencies and scandals for years as he suggested a free app for filing taxes and conducting an audit.
He also wanted to lay off a large number of employees, which would reduce what he said was ‘administrative overgrowth’.
In a poll on X, Musk asked netizens what the IRS’s budget should be. The federal agency is asking for an additional $20 billion.
The IRS just said it wants $20 billion more money.
Do you think the budget should be as follows:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024
“The IRS just said it wants $20 billion more money. Do you think the budget should be as follows: increased, the same, decreased, deleted?
The survey results showed that 60.6% of respondents wanted to eliminate the IRS budget, while 29.9% voted to reduce the budget.
Meanwhile, 5.6% said they are in favor of increasing the budget, while 3.9% agreed it should remain the same.
Other agencies in focus
Musk and Vivek want to scrutinize the budgets of multiple federal agencies to reduce government spending.
The duo is also targeting another watchdog agency for financial practices: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Musk recommended scrapping the CFPB, raising concerns about the agency’s future.
For Vivek, he wanted “massive reductions” in the Ministry of Education. President-elect Donald Trump has been calling for the dismantling of the department for years and it appears this will happen upon his return to the White House.
Vivek wants to cut back on defense
Vivek also criticized the Defense Department’s massive budget, saying the Pentagon wastes about $125 billion annually on bureaucracy.
However, Musk-owned SpaceX’s $3.6 billion defense contract appears to be exempt from DOGE’s budget cuts program
Several critics have argued that DOGE’s functions overlap with those of other existing agencies, claiming that the government’s efficiency department may be merely a redundancy.
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The role of DOGE
DOGE is intended to make the government’s work easier. The name is a reference to Dogecoin, which shows how important Musk is in the Trump administration. Musk’s role in this department has led people to wonder how this could impact Dogecoin’s value and reputation in the market.
After Trump won the election, The value of Dogecoin went up a lot. This was because Musk is working with the new government and has a history of promoting the cryptocurrency.
Reports say that talk about DOGE at campaign rallies has caused Dogecoin prices to rise. This shows that there is a direct connection between political events and the way the meme coin market reacts to them.
Featured image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum, chart from TradingView