The future heads of the newly created Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) have an ambitious plan cutting federal agency spending by $2 trillion, targeting several agencies for dramatic budget cuts.

One of DOGE’s leaders, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has said his goal is to reduce federal spending on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Targeting the IRS

The active duo of Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have promised to arrange a cuts in spending on federal agencieswhose goal is to reduce the federal budget by $2 trillion.

DOGE leaders have said they will continue to cut budgets for federal agencies they consider bloated or obsolete.

Musk said one of these government agencies is the IRS, stating, “The IRS is a mess.”

Tesla’s CEO pointed out that the IRS has been struggling with inefficiencies and scandals for years, suggesting a free tax filing application and an audit.

He also wanted to lay off huge numbers of workers, cutting down on what he saw as “administrative overreach”.

In a survey conducted on X, Musk asked Internet users what the IRS budget should be. The federal agency is requesting an additional $20 billion in funds.

The IRS just said they want $20 billion more.

Do you think the budget should be:

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024

“The IRS just said they want $20 billion more money. Do you think its budget should be: increased, the same, reduced, deleted,” he said.

The survey results showed that 60.6% of respondents were in favor of eliminating the IRS budget, while 29.9% voted for its reduction.

Meanwhile, 5.6% were in favor of increasing the budget, and 3.9% agreed that it should remain unchanged.

Other agencies targeted

Musk and Vivek want to analyze the budgets of many federal agencies in order to cut government spending.

The duo is also targeting another regulatory agency Financial Practices – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Musk has recommended removing the CFPB, raising concerns about the agency’s future.

Vivek wanted “massive reductions” in the Department of Education. President-elect Donald Trump has been calling for the department to be dismantled for years, and it looks like that will happen once he returns to the White House.

Vivek considers defense budget cuts

Vivek also criticized the Department of Defense’s massive budget, saying the Pentagon wastes about $125 billion a year on bureaucracy.

However, Musk’s $3.6 billion SpaceX defense contract appears to be excluded from DOGE’s budget cuts program

Several critics have argued that DOGE’s functions overlap with those of other existing agencies, arguing that the government’s efficiency department may be merely redundant.

The role of the DOGE

DOGE aims to make government work easier. The name refers to Dogecoin, which shows how significant Musk is in the Trump government. Musk’s role in this department has made people wonder how it might affect Dogecoin’s value and reputation in the market.

After Trump won the election Dogecoin value has increased a lot. This happened because Musk is working with the modern government and has a history of promoting the cryptocurrency.

Reports say that talk about DOGE at campaign meetings caused Dogecoin prices to escalate. This shows that there is a direct relationship between political events and the meme coin market’s reaction to them.

Featured image from Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum, chart from TradingView