The Difficult Path for Trump’s ‘One Big Budget Bet’

• Under the Trump administration, the DOGE aims to reduce U.S. federal spending, deficit, debt, and interest burden.

• Guided by Elon Musk, the initiative aims to reduce the number of federal agencies from over 400 to 99.

• The US government size is the smallest among the seven major advanced economies (MAE), with higher overall fiscal balance and government debt due to lower revenue collection.

• DOGE has implemented several expenditure reforms, resulting in estimated expenditure savings of $190 billion.

• Elon Musk disagreed with Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) provision for removing tax credits for electric vehicles.

• The extended form of DOGE, the OBBB, is unlikely to resolve the U.S.’s deficit and debt problem, potentially adding $3.2 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next decade.