How Elon Musk’s DOGE Could Actually Impact Your Wallet
Written by
Caitlyn Moorhead
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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The stated goal of DOGE (aka the Dept. of Government Efficiency) — which we all know has been led by current richest man in the world Elon Musk — is to reduce wasteful federal spending. President Trump has described DOGE as his plan to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal agencies.”
Those three stated goals are exactly how DOGE may impact your finances. In other words, through deregulation, the cessation of excessive governmental spending and the cutting or combining of redundant and overlapping governmental agencies.
While the economic impact of such moves has not been fully calculated by Trump or Musk, it’s safe to predict that a decrease in government waste could lead to several pros and cons — everything from lower taxes for all to job loss and food cost fluctuation.
DOGE vs. What the Government Spends on You
It’s estimated that approximately 64% of the government’s budget this fiscal year has been allocated to spending on Social Security, Medicare, health programs, income security and veterans’ benefits and services. As you can imagine, these are not programs that would be very popular to cut, and many economists question whether DOGE can hit its deficit-reducing goals by going after waste, fraud and abuse of power in these agencies.
There is further speculation that the unemployment rate could spike due to DOGE pushing for major layoffs in government sectors. Though there has been an uptick in layoffs in Washington D.C., the magnitude of job loss overall remains to be seen.
DOGE cutting spending when it comes to federal jobs could still affect your money, even if you don’t work for the government. For example, cuts to the IRS in this tax year could impact your filing next tax season in ways ranging from efficiently getting affordable help with your taxes or even the amount of your refund check.
DOGE Claims vs. Public Reporting
So far, DOGE claims it has saved taxpayers upwards of $994 each, though when it comes to evidence to support for this claim, hundreds have been deleted from its “wall of receipts.”
The DOGE website currently bases this assessment on its estimated savings of $160 billion through asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings and workforce reduction. This is then calculated based on 161 million federal taxpayers. Here are a few key takeaways from the DOGE “savings” timeline:
- Musk defended this effort to reshape the federal government and said anyone who questions DOGE’s savings can look at the digital receipts for themselves, though how many exist for public consumption remains in question.
- The New York Times reported that DOGE deleted five of the biggest spending cuts from its page back in February. The cuts, highlighted on an earlier version of the “wall of receipts” posted by Elon Musk’s team, contained mistakes that vastly inflated the amount of money saved.
- In March, DOGE claimed savings of $105 billion from a combination of things like lease terminations, contract cancellations and firing federal workers. This several weeks’ worth of savings has also not been proven with receipts.
- The IRS is already feeling the effects of DOGE cuts, especially during this recent tax season, as it has been reported that the agency is looking to reduce the workforce by 20% (approximately 18,200 employees) by May 15, 2025.
- DOGE’s website claims that it has saved the country $115 to $130 billion so far, but this has yet to be substantiated by any other government agency or economic experts.
DOGE vs. Your Wallet
When the government is cutting costs, you may be left wondering how the effects will trickle down to your personal finances — if at all. It’s important to note, though, that many have felt the direct punch to their paycheck already, as DOGE and the Trump administration have already laid off 62,530 federal workers, and have implied that more cuts are on the way.
Outside of lost tax income, even DOGE’s own budget may end up costing the United States more than originally anticipated. Though DOGE and Trump both claim these cuts and reductions are a good financial move and will save the federal government billions of dollars, many experts believe it may ultimately cost more than it can save.
If this happens, it may have the direct opposite effect of DOGE’s stated mission to decrease the tax burden on Americans. But, like with so many other initiatives so far in Trump’s second term in office, the results remain to be seen.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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