Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) recently illustrated how, despite the billions in savings the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seeks to create for taxpayers, there is a broader fiscal crisis surrounding exorbitant government spending. Burchett pointed out that federal spending has skyrocketed by trillions of dollars over the past several years and must be reduced.
According to Burchett, the savings produced by DOGE’s initiatives pale in comparison to the multi-trillion-dollar government spending. “In 2019 federal spending was $4.5 trillion, today spending is $7 trillion. The budget proposal cuts about $150 to $200 billion. That is about 2%. I’m afraid the lack of serious cuts will eat up all the savings by @DOGE and @elonmusk.We have a spending problem,” the Tennessee Republican wrote on X.
The comment sparked discourse from conservatives in the comments section. “Yes we do have a spending problem and both parties are guilty. There must be serious cuts. The House has huge responsibility here, which it has been conveniently ignoring. Pelosi was terrible but Johnson hasn’t stepped up to the plate. This has to change,” one person said.
Another person added, “Agree, a different take, but the same solution. Congress and their out-of-control spending are to blame. Well, we keep voting for them. Our Government ran a deficit of $1.83T in 2024, projected $2.3T deficit in 2025 and the year just started in Oct 2024. The top 50% of earners paid 98% or $1.67T of the $1.7T personal taxes collected in 2020. If we doubled the tax on the Top 50%, we will still be running a deficit. We can’t tax our way out of this mess, we must cut spending.”
Another person asked, “Why can’t either chamber bite the bullet and cut the budget back to pre-covid levels? I understand it can’t be instantaneous given costs of layoffs, etc., but NO version of the proposals I have seen do anything but increase spending YOY.”
One person opined, “Its a joke. Budget needs to be at or less than Govt Revenues. 2024 Govt Revenues = $4.9 Trillion. Up by nearly 1/2 a Billion dollars from year before. Biggest income stream …. surprise, surprise – IRS. 2024 IRS Revenues = $5.1 Trillion. 2024 IRS Refunds = aprox 500 Billion. Interesting that govt Revenues aprox equals IRS refunds…
”
Continuing to break out the math, they added, “2024 GDP = $29.7 Trillion. Up nearly 3% from year prior. Annual budget should be 10% of the GDP with a provision to extended up to 15%, as needed but not to exceed. That would mean a budget of $3 Trillion to 4.5 Trillion. Even at the cap, 4.5Trillion, that would leave us with $400Billion to place towards the principle debt of the USA.”
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The user concluded the lengthy post on U.S. fiscal policy, “I’m certain we can find a way to have a budget of 3.2-3.5Trillion. Leaving nearly 1.5Trillion towards debt paydown. Just like politicians throw around the words of hundreds of billions here or a trillion there with no true thought of what that is.. .. they need to do the same in the opposite direction. … cut a trillion here and there so we get to correction territory. Thats the only way.”
The American Tribune recently covered a report that discovered the national debt under the Biden-Harris administration exploded to unprecedented levels. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determined that the country’s fiscal troubles were exacerbated under President Biden and would cause a crisis if not mitigated within the next decade.
The CBO report concluded that annual federal spending is on track to increase over the next decade, where in 2035, government expenditure will reach $10.73 trillion. Spending for 2025 is projected to reach $7 trillion. Furthermore, the annual budget deficit is forecasted to reach $2.4 trillion in 2033, $2.5 trillion in 2034 and $2.7 trillion in 2035.
Watch Elon talk about the “staggering” government spending:
Featured image credit: U.S. Air Force / Trevor Cokley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon_Musk_Colorado_2022_(cropped2).jpg