Elon Musk says DOGE cuts necessary, but face headwinds according to Fox poll
A majority of voters are concerned by the nation's debt crisis, with 60% saying a significant amount of government spending is "wasteful." Even still, those voters are concerned about how the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is making its cuts, according to a recent Fox News poll.
Musk, who is heading the initiative, said the nation's debt is so high that its interest payments exceed the entire military budget, and that DOGE is necessary to prevent the country from sinking into bankruptcy.
According to Fox News polling data, 40% of voters approve of DOGE’s cuts, while 58% disapprove. Among Democrats, 6% approve and 93% disapprove, while 78% of Republicans approve and 20% disapprove.
DOGE CUTS RIPPLING THROUGH LOCAL ECONOMIES AROUND US
It isn't only voters who have questioned the cuts. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted on X last week that Alaskan USAID employees informed her about the "confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by OPM and DOGE" and "painted an incredibly troubling picture of what the world looks like without humanitarian assistance from the United States."
"Although I support measures to find inefficiencies within the agency, USAID’s mission to keep people healthy and safe in even the most remote corners of the world should not be eliminated," she wrote.
The federal government runs a nearly $2 trillion annual budget deficit that is driven primarily by rising spending on Social Security and Medicare due to the aging of America's population, as well as elevated interest expenses caused by the growing national debt and elevated interest rates.
Last year, federal spending on servicing the national debt surpassed the size of the Department of Defense budget for the first time.
TESLA BEING TARGETED WITH 'HEINOUS VIOLENCE,' WHITE HOUSE SAYS
As of March 5, the gross national debt is $36.22 trillion, according to the Joint Economic Committee. Musk has been aiming to trim $2 trillion of that since DOGE officially became a part of the government in January.
However, with those cuts come various challenges. Some judges have already called for the reinstatement of probationary employees across dozens of agencies who were fired. Last week, two judges issued back to back rulings that would effectively reinstate workers from 24 agencies.
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Musk's work with DOGE has also spurred protests from opponents who have in some cases targeted Tesla, the automaker he serves as the CEO of. Those incidents have featured cases of vandalism targeting individual Tesla owners, as well as the EV-maker's dealerships and charging stations.
Musk said in a post on his social media platform X that, "This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong. Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks."
FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.