Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, newly-appointed by Trump to be in charge of so-called “government efficiency,” are gearing up to carry out massive budget cuts of programs they deem to be inefficient or not important.
Their promise has caused alarm as various social programs in the country are under threat which serve a vital purpose to the millions of working class people in the country. While the pair has not announced which programs are on the chopping block, many are looking to programs Trump previously attempted to cut as well as proposals for cuts made by conservative pundits, to get a sense of what’s to come.
Many suspect that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides financial support for groceries to low-income families and individuals, is likely to be affected, with policy advocates already bracing for severe cuts. During Trump’s first term, he attempted to revoke SNAP for around 700,000 unemployed people, an attempt which was struck down by a federal court in 2020.
The Cato Institute, a right-wing think tank, has proposed numerous other spending cuts for the incoming Trump administration—including public schools, public transportation, green energy, public housing, community development, and Medicaid—all programs that millions of working people depend on. The proposal to slash the budgets of these crucial social programs, is also outlined in Project 2025 and Trump’s official platform.
Interestingly, some conservative Republicans have proposed cuts to the Department of Defense, with Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst pitching several spending cuts to Musk and entrepreneur Ramaswamy, Trump’s appointees to head the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“The Pentagon has never passed an audit and is unable to fully account for its budget. By its own estimates, DoD wastes USD 125 billion on bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency,” Ernst wrote in a recent letter, outlining proposals to maximize Pentagon efficiency without decreasing US militarism within the country or around the world.
Trump is likely to renew his 2017 tax cuts, which constituted one of the largest transfers of wealth from the working class to the ultra-rich, amounting to around USD 2 trillion in wealth transferred by allowing billionaires and corporations to pay a lower effective tax rate than many working class families. Parts of this major tax reform, dubbed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, will expire at the end of next year. Trump and Republicans, with a new majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, are widely expected to extend the tax cuts. These cuts will disproportionately benefit the wealthy: those making between USD 60,000 to USD 100,000 per year are expected to save USD 1,000, while those making over one million dollars per year are expected to save on average USD 70,000 on taxes.
