DOGE achieved something unprecedented: cutting the federal workforce by nine percent in less than 10 months. That’s 271,000 jobs—the fastest peacetime reduction on record.
Yet federal spending rose by $248 billion.
Cato’s Alex Nowrasteh and Krit Chanwong analyzed the data and found the answer in the structure of federal outlays. Most government spending flows through entitlement programs that operate on policy autopilot. Workforce reductions, however dramatic, can’t touch these expenditures without congressional action.
The analysis reveals why DOGE’s workforce cuts—as historic as they were—didn’t dent the federal budget.
This data-driven breakdown explains what worked, what didn’t, and what future reform efforts must address to actually reduce spending.
If you’d like to set up an interview to discuss this, please contact Madison: mmiller@cato.org.
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