But there was also an elephant in the rooms they visited: An unspoken understanding that Musk’s stated goal of slashing federal spending by $2 trillion is already DOA.

The reason for this comes down to math.

In fiscal 2023, for example, the federal government spent a total of $6.1 trillion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Of that $6.1 trillion, about $3.8 trillion was already off limits for cuts on day one, legally obligated to go toward mandatory spending programs like Social Security benefits for retired workers, Medicare coverage and veterans benefits.

After that, roughly $650 billion was set aside to pay the interest on the national debt.

This left $1.7 trillion for everything else, known as discretionary funding. $805 billion of this was spent on national defense, a largely untouchable pot of money. Finally, the remainder was divided up among the federal departments that perform much of the visible, daily work of government, agencies like FEMA, NASA, and Customs and Border Protection.

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Math makes DOGE impossible. How did Musk not recognize this simple problem in advance? I bet he got the $2 trillion idea from Grok.

Or am I overlooking something? Surely he wouldn't cut the $3.8 trillion of mandatory spending. If that's how he plans to do it, I predict he'll go after benefits for veterans first. They're politically less powerful.