Democratic Senator Calls DOGE a ‘Con Job’

By Staff Writer
4 Min Read

While suggesting that the Department of Government Efficacy (DOGE) may just be a “con job,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy (CT) said that Democrats should “come after” Elon Musk, Breitbart reports. Speaking on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Murphy questioned Musk’s motives and credibility arguing that the tech billionaire is someone who has benefitted from government subsidies and is possibly just a pawn in a “publicity stunt.”

When asked about whether Democrats should join the efforts of the DOGE, Murphy responded:

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“I’m just not sure that [DOGE] has anything to do with breaking up the status quo. You’ve put a billionaire, who basically has made his fortune off of government subsidies in charge of deciding how the government should spend its money. This sounds like either a con job, in which Elon Musk comes out of this with his programs protected, and perhaps his competitors’ programs targeted or just a TV show.”

Discussing government efficacy and how Democrats should be involved, Murphy recommended that Elon Musk be someone who they “come after” as a billionaire who Murphy says “made his fortune off of taxpayers.”

“So, yes, I think Democrats should put on the table how we think we can cut government,” Murphy said. “Let’s come after the drug companies, come after the insurance companies, the big defense companies that are all reaping huge amounts of money off of the government. Let’s come after Elon Musk, who’s made his fortune off of taxpayers. Democrats should be involved in the conversation about government efficiency. I just don’t know that this group has anything to do with actual, meaningful commonsense cuts. It may be about protecting billionaires from those cuts or it may just be about a publicity stunt.”

Elon Musk has been optimistic about being able to cut government spending, noting while on the campaign trail that he believes at least $2 trillion could be cut from the Biden-Harris administration’s $6.5 trillion budget, according to Fox Business.

Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) told FOX Business in an interview, that while Musk’s goal is ambitious and would be difficult to do in one year, he believes cutting the the $2 trillion could be possible over the course of a decade.

Goldwein responded to one of Musk’s posts on X that “If @DOGE identified and helps cut waste and inefficiencies in Medicare and Medicaid it will be a huge success!!” Goldwein also provided a list of suggestions on how to make changes.

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According to Fox Business, “Last month, CRFB reported President-elect Trump could save the U.S. $1.4 trillion alone over the next ten years just by reversing President Biden’s executive actions, and the non-partisan group also identified another $700 billion in deficit reduction options that are low-hanging fruit – meaning easy and relatively bipartisan.”

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