The Business Times
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THINKING ALOUD

Washington’s Capitol Hill fight: Government is not the enemy

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    • Most taxpayers, according to opinion polls, share Trump’s enthusiasm about the idea of cutting the federal government spending and making it more user-friendly. But then, most Americans also want to keep in place many of the social-economic programmes that benefit them and their families.
    • Most taxpayers, according to opinion polls, share Trump’s enthusiasm about the idea of cutting the federal government spending and making it more user-friendly. But then, most Americans also want to keep in place many of the social-economic programmes that benefit them and their families. PHOTO: REUTERS

    Leon Hadar

    Published Thu, Jan 9, 2025 · 06:59 PM

    THE two billionaires, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, were on Capitol Hill at the start of December, to discuss their newly announced advisory team that they say would cut regulations, spending and headcount within the federal government.

    “The taxpayers deserve better,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said. “They deserve a more responsive government, a more efficient government.”

    The Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, was first announced by Donald Trump in November. “It will become, potentially, “the ‘Manhattan Project’ of our time”, the president-elect wrote on his social media platform, referring to a top-secret World War II programme to develop nuclear weapons.

    US politicsElon MuskRed tapeThinking Aloud

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