Despite Musk's radical austerity measures: US spending higher than during Biden's term in office

Frankfurter Rundschau Despite Musk's radical austerity measures: US spending higher than during Biden's term in office Article by Laura May • 5 hours • 2 minutes reading time Budget holes under Trump Saving is one of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's main concerns for the USA. So far, however, they have spent more than Joe Biden did last year. Washington, D.C. - Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to save. With their newly founded Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was founded after the US election, they are aiming to save billions through a massive purge of the federal bureaucracy. So far, tens of thousands of civil servants have been laid off, federal agencies have been dissolved and development aid has been drastically cut. In fact, however, government spending has increased since the day they took office compared to 2024. The New Republic, among others, reports on this. Between January 21 and February 20, the Republican US government spent around $710 billion, almost a billion more than Joe Biden in the same period last year. Cost-cutting failed - Trump and Musk spend almost a billion more Tech billionaire Elon Musk claims he has already saved tens of billions of dollars for US taxpayers. According to a Reuters analysis, the fact that the budget balance looks so bad is because cost-cutting efforts have so far failed to reduce the country's high budget obligations. Above all, an aging population and a rising debt burden are putting pressure on the US finances. Savings have so far been offset by higher spending on health and pension programs as well as rising interest payments. In total, the government spent around $710 billion between January 21 and February 20, according to the Treasury Department's daily spending data. In the same period last year, it was around $630 billion. Saving is difficult - Trump and Musk still have to pay for US pensions and debt Despite his radicalism and chainsaw, Elon Musk will probably not be able to reduce US spending so easily. Trump can hardly reduce debt service payments, which accounted for 13 percent of the budget last year, without risking a default that would shake the global financial system. A reduction could lead to a default that would destabilize the global financial system. Last fiscal year, more than a third of federal spending went to two major programs. Given the aging population, these programs are expected to take up an even larger share of the budget in the future. However, a cut would anger many Americans.