{"id":2400381,"date":"2025-02-07T15:25:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T20:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/for-doge-to-successfully-cut-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T15:27:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T20:27:00","slug":"for-doge-to-successfully-cut-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/for-doge-to-successfully-cut-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"For DOGE To Successfully Cut Waste, There Can Be No &#8216;But&#8217; About It"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffor-doge-to-successfully-cut-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2400381&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article \u200cdiscusses the reaction of \u200ddemocrats and the media to Elon Musk&#8217;s efforts to audit and cut waste within the federal goverment, notably through the initiative\u2063 associated\u2063 with\u2064 DOGE.\u2062 It highlights a \u200dpattern \u2064where those who \u2062advocate for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/haley-heads-into-second-debate-banking-on-keeping-up-momentum-from-the-first\/\" title=\"Haley relies on first debate&#039;s momentum for second.\">reducing\u200c government spending<\/a> often follow their call for action with a &#8220;but,&#8221; indicating their\u200d reluctance to actually implement cuts. The author argues that while there is widespread\u200b acknowledgment of the need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-kevin-mccarthy-gives-speech-on-house-floor-after-winning-speakership\/\" title=\"WATCH: Kevin McCarthy Gives Speech On House Floor After Winning Speakership\">eliminate wasteful spending<\/a>, tangible proposals for cuts are often overshadowed by excuses \u2063and justifications for maintaining\u200b the status\u200b quo. <\/p>\n<p>Examples from news outlets are provided, showcasing how calls for \u2063efficiency turn into arguments for increased government hiring rather than budget cuts. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-trumps-victory-there-can-be-no-unity-without-a-reckoning\/\" title=\"After Trump\u2019s Victory, There Can Be No Unity Without A Reckoning\">author \u200cexpresses skepticism<\/a> about the potential\u200d success of Musk&#8217;s initiatives but emphasizes that the direction he is <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">taking\u2014debt audits<\/a> and reducing the size of government\u2014is the only viable approach for meaningful reform. The piece concludes by criticizing the current political climate, where discussions about reducing government \u200dwaste often lead back to justifying excessive spending instead. <\/p>\n<p>Eddie Scarry, the author, encapsulates a \u2062deep frustration with the entrenched bureaucracy that resists real change, calling for serious measures to tackle the financial \u200binefficiencies \u200band excesses of the federal budget.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/44124348109@N01\/27315939721\" target=\"_blank\">Steve Jurvetson\/Flickr<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/if-elons-doge-is-to-successfully-cut-government-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=If%20Elon%E2%80%99s%20DOGE%20Is%20To%20Successfully%20Cut%20Government%20Waste,%20There%20Can%20Be%20No%20%E2%80%98But%E2%80%99%20About%20It&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/if-elons-doge-is-to-successfully-cut-government-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=If%20Elon%E2%80%99s%20DOGE%20Is%20To%20Successfully%20Cut%20Government%20Waste,%20There%20Can%20Be%20No%20%E2%80%98But%E2%80%99%20About%20It&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/if-elons-doge-is-to-successfully-cut-government-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/if-elons-doge-is-to-successfully-cut-government-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=If%20Elon%E2%80%99s%20DOGE%20Is%20To%20Successfully%20Cut%20Government%20Waste,%20There%20Can%20Be%20No%20%E2%80%98But%E2%80%99%20About%20It&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/if-elons-doge-is-to-successfully-cut-government-waste-there-can-be-no-but-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>As Democrats and the media continue to grip their groins in agony over Elon Musk and his DOGE team&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/doge-is-deadly-to-the-swamp-and-a-ray-of-light-for-the-american-taxpayer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">audit of the federal government<\/a>, it&rsquo;s fun to hear them all periodically pause to offer some variation of, &ldquo;Everyone wants to end wasteful spending, <em>but<\/em>&hellip;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s the surest indicator that a person has absolutely no interest in cutting a single dollar from our nearly $7 trillion budget. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1222553600\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>There are of course places we can trim, but&hellip;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>There are ways to increase efficiency, but&hellip;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Nobody likes seeing fraud and waste, but&hellip;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What follows the &ldquo;but&rdquo; is invariably some excuse for why a proposed cut isn&rsquo;t practical; a claim that the cut will result in &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/bill-gates-worried-about-scaling-back-usaid-you-could-have-literally-millions-deaths\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">literally millions of deaths<\/a>;&rdquo; or, my personal favorite, an assertion that the target of the cut is &ldquo;only&rdquo; some infinitesimally small fraction of the budget (in which case I say it should automatically get cut).<\/p>\n<p>CNN&rsquo;s Dana Bash did one of these on Friday regarding Musk&rsquo;s recent aims to dramatically slash the Democrats&rsquo; favorite slush fund widely known as &ldquo;USAID.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think even the biggest supporters of USAID would argue that it&rsquo;s not worth looking into,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and making sure that if there is money that is being misspent or on fraudulent programs, that is worth looking into and doing away with, but&hellip;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post had a particularly humorous version of this pattern on Thursday with its editorial board <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2025\/02\/06\/trump-federal-workers-office-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declaring<\/a>, &ldquo;Of course, a compelling case can be made for significant changes to the federal government.&rdquo; The paper did not specify any cuts in federal spending but did essentially recommend accelerating the hiring process for yet more government workers.<\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;m not joking. A major problem right now with government efficiency, according to the Post, is that &ldquo;the hiring process is arcane and inefficient.&rdquo; I get the impression that maybe the editors aren&rsquo;t entirely sure what the purpose of DOGE is.<\/p>\n<p>All of this is to say, I don&rsquo;t know to what extent Musk and DOGE will be successful in reducing even just one penny from the federal budget, but their approach so far &mdash;&nbsp;auditing the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/07\/democrats-more-panicked-about-doge-accessing-feds-computers-than-chinese-hackers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Treasury<\/a> payment systems and aggressively pushing to eliminate mass numbers of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-harris-helene-response-could-drive-nc-voters-to-trump\/\" title=\"Biden-Harris&#039; Helene Response Could Drive NC Voters To Trump\">government workers &#038;mdash<\/a>;&nbsp;is the only serious way to try.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats and their media friends are pretending the process has been in breach of various laws and violated privacy rights and a court has <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/doge-elon-musk-trump-labor-department-de7e6f872fab70082447631887c7e27e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">intervened<\/a>, supposedly to determine whether all of this is proper. (Why wouldn&rsquo;t the president of the United States be allowed to deputize anyone he wants to have full access to agencies that fall under the executive branch?) But whatever the case, when this all shakes out, cutting the hundreds and billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse from the federal budget is only possible by doing exactly what Musk is doing.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone in Washington, even Republicans, says they&rsquo;re dead-set on reducing the bloat. Then, perhaps after a performative government &ldquo;shutdown,&rdquo; during which government workers get a paid vacation, a budget is passed that either sustains or, more likely, increases the previous one. This week, though, the public is getting a fresh, in-depth look at the obscene and despicable expenditures our elected leaders are allowing &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/05\/defunding-usaid-isnt-about-reducing-the-deficit-its-about-shutting-down-left-wing-propaganda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">billions of dollars<\/a> toward DEI initiatives abroad and funding useless projects here.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats and the media naturally reacted with a mix of horror at being exposed and insistence that eliminating even the entirety of it would have a negligible effect on the budget, so DOGE should just look elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Nah, we&rsquo;ve gotta start somewhere, and there&rsquo;s no better place.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Eddie Scarry is the D.C. columnist at The Federalist and author of &#8220;<a href=\"\/\/www.amazon.com\/Liberal-Misery-Hateful-Everything-Everyone\/dp\/1637584350\">Liberal Misery: How the Hateful Left Sucks Joy Out of Everything and Everyone<\/a>.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Eddie Scarry<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/eScarry\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@eScarry<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/eddiescarry\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/audit\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/bureaucracy\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Bureaucracy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dana-bash\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Dana Bash<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/doge\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Doge<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elon Musk<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/government-oversight\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">government oversight<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/government-waste\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">government waste<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/treasury\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Treasury<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/usaid\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">USAID<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Democrats and the media react to Elon Musk&#8217;s DOGE audit of the federal government, it&#8217;s amusing to hear them express concern while claiming they want to end wasteful spending<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":2400382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Elon-Musk.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[24715,12577,23466,40950],"class_list":["post-2400381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-blockchain","tag-cryptocurrency","tag-doge","tag-waste-management"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Elon-Musk.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/493"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2400381"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2400385,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400381\/revisions\/2400385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2400381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2400381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2400381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}