You know what they say … a billion here, a billion there, and soon you’re talking real money.
(NOTE: Yes, I know it used to be million, but then Joe Biden happened.)
Just how much work has Elon Musk and his DOGE team accomplished? Let’s ask the Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. They vented yesterday that Donald Trump has frozen over $435 billion in approved spending — so far. And they don’t sound happy about the cost savings, either:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has so far withheld at least $436.87 billion of congressionally approved funding, the top Democrats on the U.S. Congress’ appropriation committees said on Tuesday.
The frozen allotments span the federal government, according to the first estimate of the potential impoundments in the project led by Senator Patty Murray from Washington and Representative Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut.
Gee … do you remember when Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) kept insisting that DOGE hadn’t actually saved any money? I certainly do; they claimed that DOGE either had flagged programs that didn’t cost much, or that they had repeated other cuts that had already taken place. Now suddenly they are shocked, shocked to find nearly a half-trillion dollars in spending has been stopped.
And they even recognize the amazing time scale of that work, even if they’re unhappy about it:
“Just 100 days into office, President Trump and Elon Musk are continuing their unprecedented assault on our nation’s spending laws, and it is families, small businesses, and communities in every part of the country who are paying the price,” Murray and DeLauro said in a statement.
So Trump and Musk have found a half-trillion dollars of potential savings in just 100 days? Imagine what they could save us in a full budget cycle!
We may not have to imagine. Democrats plan to promote DOGE savings with an online website. No, I am not kidding:
These findings will be publicly posted in a tracker tallying the minimum the committees believe the administration is freezing or fighting in court to block, a committee aide said.
So let me get this straight. Trump ran on cutting government spending, explicitly with the help of Elon Musk. Trump won election and got Musk to create DOGE to cull out wasteful spending and corrupt programs. In 100 days, they managed to find $435+ trillion dollars in non-essential spending … and Democrats want to promote that?
Er … excuse me, I need to collect myself for a moment:
Yes, please post a running tracker of all the spending Trump has cut! Taxpayers hate that almost as much as they hate having a politician do what he promised during an election!
Do Democrats have any connection to the electorate at all these days?
With that said, the problem here will be legal rather than political. The best way to do this would be to propose a rescission bill to approve the cuts. That only requires simple majorities in both chambers of Congress to approve. Thus far, the White House has not yet submitted a proposed rescission bill, likely because they want to roll up as much spending as possible through the DOGE team in order to get it done with one bill. Technically, those funds do not have to be spent until the end of the budget cycle, but the programs involved have beneficiaries who will drag the administration into court well before then. The White House should consider a series of rescissions to achieve the same purpose.
Politically, though, this is a clear winner for Trump and DOGE. If the Democrats want to post trackers of all the money Trump and Musk are saving taxpayers, so much the better. If Trump is really lucky, Democrats will hold press conferences every day to promote DOGE’s success.
