Budget Battle Veterans Skeptical Of ‘DOGE’ Focus For Cuts

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a very simple question Dec. 7 on his X (formerly Twitter) social media account: “Why are we doing this when our own country is so deeply in debt?”

The object of Musk’s curiosity? International humanitarian aid, which, according to a United Nations estimate, the United States gave more of than nine other countries combined, totaling almost $9.5 billion in 2023.

As one of two co-chiefs of the still nebulous “Department of Government Efficiency” ― at this point, “DOGE” it is more of a social media account than an actual federal entity ― all eyes are on Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and what they will focus on as potential areas where the government can save money. But, as the foreign aid example shows, so far Musk appears to be looking at small but headline-grabbing proposals with little potential to…more