President Donald Trump has announced that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will begin examining spending at the Department of Education, with a review of Pentagon finances to follow. Trump stated that Musk’s work has already uncovered wasteful spending and that further investigations will likely expose billions of dollars in fraud.
During an interview before the Super Bowl, Trump praised Musk’s efforts, saying, “He’s doing a great job. He’s not making anything from this. He just wants to clean up the waste.” Trump said Musk’s next assignment would be to scrutinize education spending within 24 hours.
The Department of Education has faced scrutiny from conservatives for years, with calls to reduce its authority or dissolve it entirely. Leavitt recently confirmed that the administration is reviewing ways to restructure or possibly eliminate the agency.
Trump also signaled that military spending would come under review. “We’re going to find billions, maybe hundreds of billions, in fraud and abuse,” he said. The Pentagon, which now operates on a budget exceeding $900 billion, has repeatedly failed audits and has been criticized for financial mismanagement.
Musk’s involvement in government cost-cutting has already led to major shake-ups. His team has attempted to shut down USAID, leaving thousands of employees on leave. The move has been met with legal challenges, with opponents arguing that only Congress has the power to dismantle the agency.
Despite these challenges, Trump has remained committed to using DOGE to uncover and eliminate wasteful spending across the federal government. He stated that Musk’s team is “very capable” and will continue working across multiple departments.
