I have been writing about the federal deficit and the national debt for almost 20 years. They are universally the least read of any articles I write — bar none.
I get it. Nothing makes a MEGO ("My Eyes Glaze Over") article like writing about debt or spending. Perhaps that will change once it dawns on people that for all the herculean effort put into cutting spending by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it not making any noticeable dent in our $2 trillion deficit or slowing down increases to the national debt.
Elon Musk claims that DOGE has cut $150 billion in spending. In FY 2024, about 73% of federal spending went to interest on the debt and entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. That amounted to nearly $5 trillion.
So far this year, Social Security costs have increased by $32.7 billion over the same period last fiscal year. The increased costs are largely due to 1.3 million new beneficiaries as the boomer generation continues to come of age and become eligible for Social Security and Medicare.
Of Medicare, combined with Medicaid, spending has grown by $29 billion since Trump took office compared to FY 2024. "Combined, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid accounted for roughly 43% of federal spending in the last fiscal year," reports the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper did an in-depth analysis of spending since Trump took office, and the results are disappointing.
Interest on the debt totaled $881 billion for FY 2024. Already this year, the U.S. has shelled out $25.5 billion more in interest so far in 2025 than in the same period in 2024.
Federal salary payments are $2.8 billion higher than last year, even with the nearly 200,000 federal employee layoffs. Many of those workers took buyouts, which temporarily increased payroll costs.
USAID funding has nearly returned to 2024 levels after the Supreme Court ordered payments to continue while agency funding is being litigated.
The long and short of it is that it's going to take a lot more than DOGE can do to bring sanity back to government spending.
There have been some small successes.Spending by the Transportation Security Administration nearly flatlined for several weeks in February and March. Since Trump took office, the agency spent $22 million less in part by delaying spending on new uniforms, as well as curtailing travel and training costs, said Joe Shuker, a regional vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100. In March, the Department of Homeland Security canceled the union contract that protected TSA airport security workers’ benefits.
A TSA spokesman said spending is also down because of a pause in paying invoices until a system for reviewing them is in place.
At the Education Department—targeted for closure “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law” by a March 20 executive order—spending has dropped roughly $4 billion.
“I think the net effect of DOGE on federal spending, at least insofar as we can track it in the daily Treasury statement, has been pretty small,” said Don Schneider, deputy head of U.S. policy at Piper Sandler. “It will take time for those savings to accumulate, but it will also be dependent on the administration prevailing in court over some of these actions.”
Since most government spending is calculated over 10 years, the savings may yet be significant.
But the 800-pound gorilla in the room — entitlements — needs to be dealt with before any significant headway can be made in getting control of the deficit and slowing the growth of our national debt.
Your favorite PJ Media writers are working hard to bring you the best opinions and news in the business. Support us by becoming a VIP Member! We're giving you a 60% discount on the regular VIP Membership with the promo code "FIGHT." Click here to join and receive your discount.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member