Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy signal DOGE goals

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are dropping hints about where President-elect Trump’s co-directors of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will focus their efforts to cut federal spending when the new administration takes office in January.

Musk, the world’s richest person and known for his ambitious goals, has set a goal of cutting $2 trillion in federal spending under the initiative, while Ramaswamy, a billionaire in his own right, has said that entire agencies will be ” eliminated”. under DOGE recommendations.

Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images and Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

FOX Business compiled a list of what successful business owners see as opportunities for improvement and what they say they won’t touch:

IRS: Simplifying US Tax Code Policy

“In 1955, there were less than 1.5 million words in the US Tax Code. Today, there are more than 16 million words,” DOGE posted on its X account on November 15. “Due to this complexity, Americans collectively spend 6.5 billion hours preparing and filing their taxes each year. This needs to be simplified.”

DOGE CAN FIND THE $2 TRILLION IN SPENDING CUTS MUSK WANTS, BUT SAVINGS COULD TAKE A WHILE

Department of Defense (DOD): Pentagon chronic audit fails

Two days after the publication cited above, DOGE noted that the Department of Defense had failed its seventh consecutive audit last month, noting that the DOD once again cannot fully account for its budget, which was 824 thousand million dollars.

When Musk saw the news about the latest failed Pentagon audit, we wrote in X: “Sounds like a job for @DOGE!”

In a later post, Ramaswamy noted that the Department of Education (DOE) It just failed its third consecutive audit and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “showed significant deficiencies.” He also raised red flags about AmericCorp’s budget, calling all of the findings “completely unacceptable” before adding, “It’s time for DOGE.”

Congress: $516 billion authorized for expired programs

“In fiscal year 2024, the US Congress provided $516 billion to programs whose authorizations previously expired under federal law,” the DOGE X account posted on November 16. “Nearly $320 billion of that $516 billion expired more than a decade ago.”

Federal Workforce: End Work From Home Option for Government Employees

DOGE and its co-chairs have repeatedly vowed to end telework for federal employees and pointed to the Biden administration’s last-minute deal extending 42,000 Social Security Administration (SSA) employees work-from-home privileges for another five years, after President-elect Trump. leaves office.

ERNST PROMISES TO WORK WITH DOGE TO REVERSE OFFER ADMIN’S TELEWORK EXTENSION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

Ramaswamy says most federal workers don’t show up to the office and pointed to the fact that the US government owns thousands of empty buildings, which he called “crazy” and “a job for DOGE.”

SEN. ERNST LAUNCHES SERIES OF LAWS TO MOVE FEDERAL WORKERS OUT OF DC

Musk separately noted a report from Es. Joni Ernst stating that “If security guards and maintenance staff are excluded, the number of government workers who show up in person and perform 40 hours of work per week approaches 1%.”

And he added that “almost no one.”

Accelerate government projects

In a December 5 X post, DOGE noted a number of federal projects that were delayed for years due to bureaucracy. Musk and Ramaswamy say deregulation is a key part of DOGE’s purpose, which is in line with Trump’s agenda.

Ramaswamy pointed out particular issues how construction is hampered by regulations.

Modernize and find cost-effective government IT systems

“The federal government spends 80% of its $100 billion annual IT budget on maintaining outdated systems,” DOGE posted on X. “Not only are older systems more expensive to maintain, they are also more vulnerable to hackers.”

Musk and Ramaswamy wrote posts saying that updating the technology is a priority, and Ramaswamy said it is on DOGE’s “to-do list.”

National Institutes of Health (NIH): Return Money to Taxpayers

In response to a DOGE publication that in 2023 the NIH spent $759 million on workforce diversity and outreach, more than $611,000 on “Assessing Microaggressions Among Obese Latinos,” and $87,944 on the “ Role of estrous cycle and nucleus accumbens signaling in oxycodone incubation”. craving in female rats,” Ramaswamy wrote, “Return this $$ to the taxpayers.”

EXPERT SAYS MEDICAID AND MEDICARE REFORM IS CRITICAL AND COULD SAVE $2.1 TRILLION

Trump chose Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as his nominee to serve as director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Ramaswamy noted that cost savings across the board can be anticipated under RFK’s watch.

Federal Agencies: Fraud Losses

In response to a report that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion each year due to fraud, Musk responded in X: “Drop the hammer @DOGE.”

Foreign aid: transparency in investments

“Here’s an easy one for @DOGE!” Dr. Ron Paul, long-time budget cuts evangelist, former presidential candidate and retired congressman, wrote in to the rich in poor countries, with a Cut to Middle Enablers! Americans don’t want their government to borrow more money to spend on foreign aid. Plus, it’s an immoral transfer of wealth and it’s unconstitutional.”

Musk responded: “@DOGE will address this with full transparency to the American people.”

Protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Benefits

The federal government’s largest spending program is Social Security, followed by Medicare and Medicaid, along with other mandatory obligations. While various adjustment options have been raised to address the sustainability of these programs over the years, Ramaswamy said in a recent interview that touching rights is not DOGE’s role.

Ramaswamy told Axios at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month that it would be premature to discuss any of the aforementioned rights through DOGE, saying such cuts would be “a political decision that belongs to the voters” and their representatives in Congress.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

However, Ramaswamy noted that DOGE will seek to stop sending taxpayer dollars to individuals who improperly pocket funds under the programs.

He told the media, ““Right now, there are hundreds of billions of dollars going out the door from all of those programs and ending up in the hands of people who, even under the statute, should not be receiving those payments.”