Trump Administration Declares $43.6 Billion Efficiency Program Free
The Trump administration declared Friday that its government-efficiency program had cost taxpayers only $43.6 billion through Sept. 3, establishing a major savings milestone for any initiative permitted to count its expenses as savings. The total included $11.2 billion for consultants studying how to reduce consultants, $28.1 billion to replace computer systems discarded during modernization, and $4.3 billion in severance and recruitment costs for employees dismissed and later rehired. Officials said the figures proved fiscal discipline remained available at competitive hourly rates.
President Donald Trump praised the total as evidence that his administration had reduced a vast federal expense to a vast federal expense with better branding. “Forty-three billion dollars is basically nothing, maybe less than nothing, because we spent it on saving money, and when money is spent on saving money it automatically becomes savings,” Trump said. White House aides explained that each dollar used to identify waste ceased to qualify as waste because it had acquired an official purpose, a federal badge and a commemorative efficiency lanyard.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought had previously projected that the program would cost $37.5 billion through the end of September, allowing the administration to exceed its full-month efficiency target nearly four weeks early. Officials celebrated the accelerated spending as proof that Washington can still finish an expensive federal initiative ahead of schedule, provided “finish” means approving additional invoices. Congressional estimates that the program could continue costing $2 billion to $3 billion each month were welcomed as a predictable subscription fee for premium austerity, including dashboards, reorganizations and unlimited access to meetings about reducing meetings.
Republicans preparing for the midterm elections were advised to describe the expense as “roughly zero” after rounding down to the nearest politically useful number. The White House added that future overruns would make the original $43.6 billion appear cheaper by comparison, generating retrospective savings without requiring the government to spend less. Under the administration’s accounting system, every new billion proves the previous billions were bargains, and every budget increase confirms the success of budget reduction. The $43.6 billion efficiency program therefore cost taxpayers nothing.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.