Argentina's Milei eliminates deficit, hailed as model for Musk's 'DOGE'
Argentinian President Javier Milei touted his administration's achievement of balancing the budget on Wednesday as observers called on billionaire Elon Musk to do the same thing for the U.S. via President-elect Trump's "DOGE" program.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed data showing a drastic turnaround, starting in 2023, in Argentina's budget balance in relation to its GDP. The nation's deficit has reached effectively zero for the first time in over 100 years. Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are set to lead the Department of Government Efficiency under the next administration.
"The deficit was the root of all our evils—without it, there’s no debt, no emission, no inflation," Milei said in a Wednesday announcement. "Today, we have a sustained fiscal surplus, free of default."
"Without a deficit there is no debt, no issuance and no inflation. Today we have sustained fiscal surpluses, free of default, for the first time in 123 years," he added.
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Musk and Ramaswamy are tasked with auditing the U.S. executive branch and trimming wasteful spending. The DOGE is an out-of-government organization, however, and does not hold any authority on its own. The organization will instead provide recommendations to President-elect Trump's administration, which can be acted up accordingly.
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DOGE is already receiving support from Republicans in Congress. Sen. Marsha Blackburn will roll out a package of legislation backing up the effort as Republican lawmakers launch legislative efforts to rally behind the cost-cutting goals.
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The Tennessee Republican announced her plans to unveil the "DOGE Acts" in a post on X last week. They would seek to move federal agencies out of Washington, D.C., freeze federal hiring and salaries for one year, and get federal workers back in the office.
Along with Blackburn's legislative plans, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate's DOGE Caucus, unveiled a 60-page cost-cutting proposal during a meeting with GOP senators and Ramaswamy on Thursday.
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The DOGE efforts have already gained bipartisan support from Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., joining the House's GOP-led congressional caucus. Ahead of the meeting with Congress, Musk was asked whether he wanted Democratic members to be part of DOGE conversations, to which he was heard answering, "Yes."
Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report