While Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have conservatives excited about major government cuts, Donald Trump is poised to spend the money they save to fund his big promises, according to a report Tuesday.
Politico wrote that 38 House Republicans' refusal to support Trump's demands in a funding bill last week — including his request to increase the debt ceiling — gave a clear message about what they think about his spending ambitions.
"That move is a reminder that Trump exploded the deficit and greenlit billions in additional spending during his first term — two overall budget concerns that the House Republicans who opposed last week’s bill say they want to fix," the report said.
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told the press that things would be "different" with Trump this time around, and that the continuing resolution he was pushing last week was nothing more than a bridge to get them into the next administration.
During his first term in office, Trump and the GOP leadership presided over an increase in the debt — and he tried to make an increased debt ceiling a central part of last week's spending bill.
But he has also tasked Musk and Ramaswamy with finding ways for the government to cut the $2.5 trillion pledged.
Politico noted it wouldn't be easy because Republicans want expensive things like a border security bill. Finding cuts would also be difficult because $842.2 billion is spent on national defense alone. In previous decades, Republicans have been unwilling to make cuts in defense spending.
“We allow the bureaucracy to grow. We pass CR after CR,” complained far-right Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ). “That’s going to be where the Trump bully pulpit is going to come in and actually try to deal with some of this stasis, this problem.”
Biggs voted against Trump's demands last week.
“We’ve never had the level of focused reform that you have coming in,” said Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA). “The incoming executive branch is on our side.”
Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) suggested making cuts with the mandatory spending on big-ticket items like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which Trump promised he wouldn't touch.
“I think what they’re able to do is shine a spotlight on this crap and frankly force Congress to do its job,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX). “Their primary benefit is going to be [to] expose — if they can highlight the stupid then Congress has to defend the stupid, or they have to get with the program to fix the stupid.”
Based on the 2023 fiscal budget, Musk and Ramaswamy could kill every department in the government and fire every person working who doesn't fall under defense, and they still wouldn't meet their $2.5 trillion goal.
