President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” was packaged as a brilliant plan to save money by slashing federal spending and reducing the size of government. The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, pushed hard to include big spending cuts it claimed could save a whopping $175 billion.
In the end, however, Congress rejected the DOGE’s proposed permanent cuts. The bill that passed on May 22 temporarily pauses some funding but mostly just reallocates funds to priorities like tax cuts, military, and border security, prompting Musk and the Americans who hoped for a smaller federal government to express frustration. Once again, the plan to shrink the government failed.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) made his disappointment well known. On May 27 at a press conference, he ripped into congressional Republicans for failing to codify the DOGE cuts, suggesting they betrayed voters.
Pat Gray plays the clip of DeSantis’ scathing comments.
