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I come from the Ron Swanson [ [link removed] ] school of government spending. If an official says, “We need to cut expenditures by 32%,” I’ll reply, “Let’s make it an even 40,” before starting a chant of “Slash it! Slash it!”
So, imagine my surprise to learn that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is destroying America as we know it. At least that’s what I’ve gathered from the headlines.
“Elon Musk's DOGE unit is causing confusion — and raising security and legal concerns [ [link removed] ].” “Veterans groups raise the alarm about DOGE cuts at the VA [ [link removed] ].” “DOGE cuts at NOAA will impact hurricane forecasting and data gathering on storms.” [ [link removed] ] And those are just from NPR, paid for by the federal government and listeners like you.
Obviously, legacy media will oppose nearly every move made by a Republican administration, let alone by the Bad Orange Man and his First Bro, Elon. But conservative platforms also are sounding the alarm. National Review warns Elon Musk to “Cut Spending by Using the Law, Not by Breaking It [ [link removed] ].” Jonathan V. Last of The xxxxxx stokes fears about “The Illegality of DOGE [ [link removed] ].” Fellow Weekly Standard alum Stephen Hayes points out “The Downside of DOGE [ [link removed] ],” despite the fact that he praised government gridlock in 2013 because it forced Washington to deal with the national debt.
The debt in 2013? A paltry $16.7 trillion. Today it clocks in at more than twice that.
Many self-proclaimed conservatives have been demanding that we shrink the government as long as they’ve been alive. Now that it’s finally happening, they’re getting squeamish. Whether you love Trump or hate him, fans of limited government should heed the advice of Mrs. Thatcher: “This is no time to go wobbly.”
While the Beltway class hyperventilates about the buzz du jour, there’s one subject all of them studiously avoid: our $36.6 trillion in debt [ [link removed] ]. According to the most recent figures [ [link removed] ], our debt is about 20% higher than our gross domestic product. Perhaps more dangerously, it’s growing faster than the U.S. economy itself.
The U.S. has maintained a federal debt since Herbert Hoover was president, and it’s pretty much grown ever since. Currently, another trillion is added [ [link removed] ] about every 100 days. Doing the math, that means it jumps by $1 million every 8.6 seconds. Last year, the interest on that debt alone cost the government $881 billion [ [link removed] ].
Since it’s an uncomfortable topic for elected officials, they’d rather focus on anything else, usually involving the “benefits” of more spending. While lawmakers debate sending new billions to Ukraine, expanding benefits to undocumented workers, or forgiving student loans, the debt clock keeps spinning at 36 trillion rpm.
Yet if you mention this to most Americans, they’re either confused or indifferent.
“But Biden lowered the deficit.”
“Just print more money.”
“It’s Trump’s fault!”
Most debt-related graphs look like spaghetti in a blender [ [link removed] ], as the goal is to obfuscate rather than enlighten. That’s why I created my own user-friendly visualization focused on the three biggies: deficit, revenue and debt.
I first created the graph in 2014, and I update it annually. And, each time, some on the right criticize it as being too harsh on the GOP while some on the left insist that debt doesn’t matter because … well, it just doesn’t, okay?
The graph is brutally bipartisan. Debt increased under Republican presidents and Democratic presidents. It increased under Democratic congresses and Republican congresses. In war and in peace, in boom times and in busts, after tax hikes and tax cuts, the Potomac flowed ever deeper in red ink.
Our leaders like to talk about sustainability. But how is this situation sustainable, or even sane?
Wonks will say my visualization should be weighted for this variable or have lines showing that trend. All are free to create their own graphics to better fit their narrative, and I’m sure they will. But the numbers shown can’t be spun by either side.
All figures come directly from the federal government, and math doesn’t care about fairness or good intentions. Spending vastly more than you have, decade after decade, is foolish when done by a Republican or a Democrat, by a government or an individual.
If anything, the graph is far too optimistic; it doesn’t show the future projections of exploding entitlements [ [link removed] ].
When I was a young, naïve conservative, I thought that Republicans didn’t like debt. Even if they spent too much, at least Reagan, the two Bushes and Tea Party members of Congress talked a good game. But the GOP long ago joined the Democrats in viewing uncontrolled spending as irrelevant—or at least unmentionable.
No politician wants to discuss the debt, let alone fix it. But trends that can’t continue won’t continue. Our current politicians might be gone before the debt bubble bursts, but we taxpayers will still be here.
And then what?
For years, the excuse was that interest rates were low, but that luxury is long gone [ [link removed] ]. As the red ink increases, we’ll face [ [link removed] ] either long-term stagnation or a catastrophic sovereign debt crisis. Once our creditors lose confidence, the dollar will lose its status as the world’s reserve currency, resulting in massive tax hikes and spending austerity.
DOGE is imperfect, as is Elon Musk. But we need to start somewhere. The only complaint about the DOGE cuts is that they’re far too small and far too slow.
As of March 18, the department had eliminated a mere $115 billion [ [link removed] ] according to its website. Most of these expenditures are particularly egregious and highlighted by Trump in his joint address [ [link removed] ] to Congress:
$22 billion from [Health and Human Services] to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens. $45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma. $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.
As bad as these programs are, they are but the tip of an enormous iceberg. But, contrary to what we’re being told by professional Washington, Musk isn’t taking a chainsaw to the budget, but a small scalpel. Still, if so-called conservatives blanch at these micro-abrasions, imagine how they’ll collapse on the fainting couch if DOGE actually reaches its modest goal [ [link removed] ] of eliminating $4 billion a day to reduce the federal deficit by $1 trillion in fiscal 2026?
And that still won’t be enough.
As Veronique de Rugy notes [ [link removed] ] in Reason, we'll still be facing “a debt explosion.” Based on current projections, Social Security and Medicare alone will require the feds to borrow $124 trillion over the next 30 years, quadruple what we've borrowed in American history.
The federal government employs more than 3 million people [ [link removed] ]. Going weak at the knees because a Yosemite National Park locksmith was laid off [ [link removed] ] is a bit much.
DOGE is off to a weak start, but at least it’s a start. If Washington can’t handle Elon’s cuts, perhaps Trump can find a real-life Ron Swanson to really start making government more efficient.

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