Musk Is ‘Shredding’ Government? Not Even Close

As night follows day, Democrats and their champions in the mainstream press have started trotting out their shopworn horror stories about budget cuts. And why not? It’s always worked in the past, turning Republicans’ knees into jelly. President Donald Trump needs to tell them to man up this time, and he can start by calling out the left’s world-is-about-to-end nonsense.

Anyone who follows the news would think that Trump and Elon Musk are carpet bombing the federal government. We keep seeing headlines about how Musk and DOGE are “shredding” and “dissecting” the federal government, about how spending cuts are causing “cruel and senseless devastation,” and the “human toll of the administration’s malevolence and incompetence.”

Reporters are busy scouring the earth for any sob story they can find – or make up – to put a human face on this supposed tragic turn of events, such as those poor federal workers who are confused and scared about having to list five things they did the previous week.

Then there are the repeated proclamations about “growing anger” among the public about the heartlessness of it all – with no evidence to support it – and how this is “putting Republicans in a difficult position.” (Never mind that Trump’s approval rating is currently higher than it ever was in his first term, according to the latest Harvard-Harris poll.)

The cumulative effect of all this is meant to rankle the public and put pressure on GOP lawmakers to make it stop.

Well, it’s time for a reality check.

As is always the case when it comes to cutting federal spending, both sides exaggerate what is going on. The ones cutting spending want the public to think they are hitting bone — witness Musk brandishing his chainsaw at the CPAC convention. The big government types want to play up the supposed harm. The result is usually that little, if anything, actually ends up getting cut.

Which is where we are right now.

Various news agencies have taken it upon themselves to track the number of federal workers who’ve been fired. New York Magazine figures it’s about 30,000.  USA Today guesses that the number could surpass 100,000.

Even if Trump and Musk have managed to cut 100,000 jobs, that’s out of nearly 2.3 million federal workers – a tiny 4% haircut. It’s less than 159,000 jobs President Bill Clinton axed in his first two years in office as part of his “National Performance Review,” to say nothing of the 441,000 federal jobs eliminated over his two terms, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Stories about DOGE’s “devastating” job cuts also fail to mention that Joe Biden added 140,000 federal jobs during his one term in office. (See chart below.)

What jobs have been cut by Musk and DOGE? According to news accounts:

• About 6,000 at the Internal Revenue Service – something most taxpayers will rejoice about – but which still leaves more than 80,000 IRS workers in place.
• The Environmental Protection Agency fired close to 400 employees, which leaves more than 16,000 – who, by the way, earn an average of $130,910 a year, according to DOGE.
• The 400 newly hired support staff let go at the Federal Aviation Administration represents a cut of less than 1% – and keep in mind that these are hardly “essential workers.”

We could go on, but you get the picture.

What about all those horrifying spending cuts?

Well, despite the hoopla from the left (and from Musk), all Trump has done so far is save a bit of money by catching some fraud, canceling some contracts, renegotiating some leases, selling some assets, and making a few other administrative changes.

DOGE brags that it’s already saved taxpayers $55 billion.

Don’t get us wrong, we are glad anytime federal spending is cut. But $55 billion is barely a rounding error in a $7.3 trillion federal budget and a microscopic reduction in what is expected to be a $1.6 trillion deficit this year.

These minuscule savings can be easily and completely overwhelmed by a tiny increase in interest costs on the national debt or a mild downturn in economic activity. Musk and DOGE will have to do much, much more cutting before they break the skin, let alone reach muscle.

So, spare us the crocodile tears and call us when the real spending and workforce cuts actually happen.

Issues & Insights was founded by seasoned journalists of the IBD Editorials page. Our mission is to provide timely, fact-based reporting and deeply informed analysis on the news of the day – without fear or favor.

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