Which federal departments have the greatest percentage of waste, fraud, and abuse? Can Elon Musk find $2 trillion in federal spending cuts? How will Trump cut the budget?
One of the campaign promises made by President-Elect Trump was a new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Trump has tapped two successful businessmen in Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the effort. Trump has also said that the efforts of Elon and Vivek will allow his administration to dismantle the government bureaucracy and cut wasteful spending. How much waste there is in Washington is unknown, but many believe it is significant. While the two appointed leaders would dig into the details and come up with recommendations for Trump, it’s unlikely Musk and Ramaswamy would have the power to restrict spending since all federal spending is under the purview of Congress.Where is the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse?
Why scrutinize federal spending now? Because the federal government is spending over $7 trillion and collecting $5 trillion. With a federal budget shortfall of over $2 trillion and a national debt over $36 trillion, why not now? If the status quo is permitted to continue, this heavy debt burden will pass to subsequent generations and will become unmanageable. To get an idea of the amount of waste, fraud, and abuse in Washington, let’s refer to the following chart. It shows the estimated waste, fraud, and abuse as a percentage of each department’s budget.
According to the G.A.O., the Department of Treasury has the greatest percentage of waste, fraud, and abuse at 23.
