In the Black: The WHY behind DOGE's cuts to government spending
Follow the Money: Why DOGE has to make massive cuts and how defunding the IRS undermines everything
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t think the US government could be run more efficiently, but have you wondered why DOGE is moving so fast? They are on a clock. The tax cuts that Trump passed in 2017 are up for renewal and he hopes to expand the corporate taxes with that renewal. All this has to be paid for somehow when the government sets its budget, so DOGE has to find 4.5 trillion dollars (this is a low estimate- some projections run as high as 11 trillion) to cut spending over the next ten years. A quick look at the US budget will show you the only way to make cuts that big is to cut Social Security and Medicare - it’s the only way to get to those numbers. It’s important to point out that the 2017 tax cuts give the most benefits to Americans in the top 5% and to corporations. So to recap, the only way to pay for tax cuts that disproportionatelyhelp the rich and big companies is to reduce service for the rest of Americans, especially the elderly and needy.
If you weren’t mad already, I’ve got more. With the further cuts that have been mandated at the IRS (see below), the Budget Lab at Yale estimates that those staffing cuts will reduce federal revenue (read tax dollars) by $350 billion over the next ten years. If the IRS was unable to keep up on compliance (audits), and I can’t imagine how they would at half staffing, the estimates run to 2.4 trillion in reduced revenue. You may have already guessed where I’m going with this - but if revenue comes down then spending must as well. Take another look at the budget linked above- the only place where you can find that kind of money to cut is Social Security and Medicare.
More layoffs at the IRS
I know you are thinking, yeah Liz you already told us about this last month. I did but naturally, things have devolved. The Trump administration has mandated a 20-25% reduction in staffing at the IRS. For context, the IRS has around 100,000 workers. Last month we talked about how 6,700 were let go. Another 5,000 took voluntary retirement. That still leaves A LOT of staffing to be cut. There have been memos released that point to more cuts, up to 50% after May.
It’s going to be a total mess. My advice: absolutely DON'T go on extension if you can help it.
