{"id":32367,"date":"2025-10-03T00:02:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T00:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investmentbankingrules.com\/?p=32367"},"modified":"2025-10-03T00:02:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T00:02:31","slug":"trumps-doge-savings-dwarfed-by-medicare-social-security-spending-watchdog-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investmentbankingrules.com\/?p=32367","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s DOGE savings dwarfed by Medicare, Social Security spending, watchdog finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

A conservative watchdog says Trump\u2019s much-hyped DOGE cuts are a drop in the bucket compared to America\u2019s ballooning entitlement spending.
\nOpenTheBooks, a conservative fiscal watchdog group, released a report on Thursday showing that mandatory spending for Medicare and Social Security vastly outweigh any cuts to discretionary spending ushered in by the Trump administration.
\nThe report was released as lawmakers clash over government funding, with the fight centered on Democratic plans to expand Obamacare.
\n\u2018Government shutdowns offer taxpayers a much-needed reality check on the massive scale of federal spending and our unsustainable debt and deficits,\u2019 OpenTheBooks CEO John Hart said in a statement to Fox News Digital. \u2018Policymakers need to wake up and take a much closer look at safety net spending, which is the largest share of our budget and is highly susceptible to fraud.\u2019
\n\u00a0
\nOf the $6.9 trillion spent by the federal government in 2024, $912 billion went to Medicare, and $1.5 trillion went to Social Security, according to OpenTheBooks.\u00a0
\nMeanwhile, OpenTheBooks highlights the rescission package passed by Congress in July, which largely focused on cuts to the United States Agency for International Development, saved around $9 billion and DOGE cuts saved taxpayers around $150 billion.\u00a0
\n\u2018The amounts of disputed savings in 2025 pale in comparison to our spending on safety net programs,\u2019 the OpenTheBooks report states. \u2018If the flow of money in the federal government could be viewed from a jet cruising at 30,000 feet, Medicare would be the Mississippi River and Social Security would be the Columbia River while USAID and \u2018woke\u2019 spending programs would be barely visible, tiny streams.\u2019<\/p>\n

In particular, OpenTheBooks zeroed in on just one aspect of Medicare funds \u2014 those that are allocated for prescription drug coverage. The fiscal watchdog found that the top 1,000 providers in the system are linked to more spending in 2024 \u2014 $10.9 billion \u2014 than was saved by the July rescission package. According to OpenTheBooks\u2019 findings, the top ten providers are associated with nearly the same amount of savings ushered in by the Trump administration\u2019s $1.1 billion in cuts to PBS and NPR. \u00a0\u00a0
\n\u2018We are not implying that any of these providers are engaging in anything other than lawful conduct on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries,\u2019 the report asserts. \u2018Yet, it is also true that healthcare spending in the United States is grossly inefficient and fraudulent at a large scale. In June, the Department of Justice charged 324 defendants for defrauding Medicare of $14.6 billion. Meanwhile, last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that insurers \u2018pocketed $50 billion from Medicare for diseases no doctor treated.\u2019\u2019
\nOpenTheBooks\u2019 report argues that if American taxpayers want to understand the costs, benefits, vulnerabilities and potential savings, related to federal government spending, then they must fight for transparency.
\n\u2018When taxpayers see where their money is flowing, especially in times of heated debates and shutdowns, they can hold policymakers accountable to better direct its flow,\u2019 the report concludes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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