Elon Musk, co-head of President-elect Trump's budget-cutting advisory panel, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has lowered his estimate for potential federal budget savings from $2 trillion to $1 trillion. Initially, Musk had stated the $2 trillion figure as a 'best-case outcome', but now believes achieving even half that amount is a more realistic goal. This revised estimate comes after budget experts criticized the initial $2 trillion target as implausible, noting the discretionary budget's size is only $1.7 trillion.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that his budget-cutting effort on behalf of President-elect Donald Trump would likely not find $2 trillion in savings, backtracking on a goal he set earlier as co-head of a new advisory body, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE . Musk told political strategist Mark Penn in an interview broadcast on X that the $2 trillion figure was a “best-case outcome” and that he thought there was only a “good shot” at cutting half that.
Experts have said Musk and Ramaswamy would need to propose cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicaid, the healthcare program for the poor, to achieve significant savings. Musk himself has warned that cuts could mean “hardship” for some. Penn, a former adviser to then-President Bill Clinton, noted that Clinton was able to balance the federal budget toward the end of his time in the White House, and he asked about Musk’s plans.
ELON MUSK DONALD TRUMP BUDGET CUTS DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY DOGE
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