The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), what started as a sentimental joke, is now a White House task force. US liberals are bashing the department for claiming it has saved over $1 billion since its creation on January 20. However, supporters, like Professional Capital Management CEO Anthony Pompliano have given Musk and his team the “thumbs up.”
Led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, DOGE aims to eliminate what it calls wasteful federal spending. This includes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) contracts. The initiative has drawn both praise and criticism. Some are calling for deeper tax cuts while others question the long term repercussions of the so-called “too much cuts.”
Today, the Department of Education terminated three DEI training grants totaling $15M.
One of the institutions had previously hosted faculty workshops entitled “Decolonizing the Curriculum”.
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 8, 2025
DOGE was established by the executive order of US President Donald Trump, with a directive to curb federal expenditures. In its first few weeks, the task force has targeted programs that do not align with the country’s interests and administration’s policies.
Calls for tax cuts grow
In a Saturday X post, Anthony Pompliano reacted to DOGE’s latest findings by urging citizens to support political pressures to lower tax rates.
“Now that people know where their tax money is going, I would expect a lot more pressure on politicians to cut the tax rates,” he said.
In a series of social media updates, Tesla CEO Musk claims that DOGE has saved taxpayers over $1 billion by eliminating DEI-related contracts. On February 4, he wrote on X, “DOGE is trying to STOP your tax dollars from being stolen for WASTE and FRAUD.“
The latest Internal Revenue Service (IRS) laws require citizens to pay taxes ranging from $11,609 to values north of $600,000 of their income, depending on their gross income tax bracket.
In the fiscal year 2024, the IRS reported that they garnered a revenue of $5.1 trillion, translating to an average of $450 billion per month. Of this amount, according to data from the US Treasury department, 68% was collected from individual and corporate taxes, which is approximately $3.5 trillion.
If DOGE were to consistently cut their proposed $500 billion annual government expenditure, Americans could get a reprieve of about 4% from their monthly net earnings. But that’s a long shot, because the IRS spent over $6 trillion in FY2024, almost $2 trillion more than it collected. The over $0.5 trillion budget cuts seem to have come a little too late for the US economy, but its a good start.
Last Monday, DOGE announced it intended to cancel 36 additional contracts, saving an estimated $165 million across six federal agencies. This followed much more budgetary cuts that took place in January, where it proposed scrapping 85 DEI contracts. Among the programs on the chopping block is a $45 million scholarship initiative for students in Burma.
IRS: you owe us taxes
Me: how much do I owe?
IRS: you get to figure that out
Me: can I just pay what I want?
IRS: no we know exactly how much you owe but you have to guess the number too
Me: what if I guess wrong?
IRS: jail
Happy tax season!
— greg (@greg16676935420) February 4, 2025
“The US Federal government has been stealing your money via taxes and debt expansion and using it to destroy the country,” said Marty Bent, managing partner at investment firm Ten31.
Bent proposed a “tax holiday in 2025” while questioning the functionality of the IRS, which Musk has already hinted at auditing.
“The amount of pain and suffering people have had to endure over the last few decades while getting lambasted by snobby bureaucrats who were lining their pockets while telling everyone they were “spreading democracy and freedom” is incalculable. The greatest heist in human history. Pure evil.”
DOGE looking to cut billions from federal expenses
Federal spending has been a long-standing topic of debate in the White House. Many agencies, think tanks, and watchdog groups have advocated for more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
Beyond contract cancellations, DOGE’s influence is extending into federal workforce policies. President Trump recently mandated that all federal employees return to the office and implemented a hiring freeze.
Among the biggest critics of DOGE’s plans is Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who called the department’s activities “risky missteps” that will cost millions of Americans their jobs.
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