In a surprising moment of clarity from CNN, anchor Fareed Zakaria commended Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy for their ambitious plan to slash bloated federal spending and reform the U.S. government’s inefficiencies. During his Sunday show, Zakaria called the proposal for a *Department of Government Efficiency* (DOGE) a potentially groundbreaking effort to finally address the ever-growing federal bureaucracy.
Zakaria acknowledged what conservatives have long argued: the federal government has become too expansive and weighed down by an overabundance of regulations. “With DOGE, we may finally get an effort to actually deliver on the central Republican promise of the last 70 years,” he noted. The anchor added that this initiative could force Americans—and the Republican Party—to confront the long-neglected issue of runaway spending.
Zakaria praised the selection of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead this initiative, calling them “brilliant” choices to take on Washington’s inefficiency. Musk, a tech visionary, and Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur turned conservative firebrand, bring private-sector expertise to the table in a way that career politicians rarely do.
The federal government currently operates under a mountain of over 180,000 pages of regulations, Zakaria pointed out, noting the obvious need for a sweeping overhaul. “Surely it’s worth taking a close look at them and retiring many,” he argued, echoing sentiments that resonate deeply with fiscal conservatives.
Yet, even Zakaria admitted the task ahead is daunting. Programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—untouchable sacred cows for many Americans—consume roughly 60% of the federal budget. Add in the Department of Defense’s $800 billion price tag, and there’s not much left to trim from the remaining 15% of discretionary spending, which covers veterans’ benefits, infrastructure, and other essential services.
Zakaria cautioned that achieving Musk’s proposed $2 trillion in cuts would require drastic measures. “To achieve the $2 trillion spending cuts that Musk has often talked about, he would need to eliminate all of the discretionary spending and all of the Pentagon spending, and then he’d still have work to do,” he said.
Zakaria highlighted an uncomfortable truth for establishment Republicans: decades of promises to rein in government spending have largely gone unfulfilled. He pointed to Republican presidents like Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, who not only failed to dismantle Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal but actually expanded federal programs. These actions, Zakaria noted, infuriated conservative voters who had hoped for smaller government.
DOGE could represent a turning point, forcing Republicans to finally make good on their rhetoric. But Zakaria also took aim at the irony of Musk championing spending cuts while his companies have benefited from nearly $16 billion in government contracts and subsidies.
Despite his support for reform, Zakaria warned of potential economic fallout. He argued that deep spending cuts could risk triggering a downturn, a concern echoed by many on the left. However, conservatives contend that fiscal responsibility and reduced government overreach are essential for long-term economic health.
Musk and Ramaswamy’s DOGE initiative could mark the beginning of a long-overdue reckoning with Washington’s unchecked spending. While the road ahead is fraught with challenges, the push to streamline the federal government and refocus its role is precisely the kind of bold leadership voters have been waiting for.
As Zakaria put it, “We will find out what America thinks of it.” Indeed, the battle over fiscal responsibility is just beginning.
