9 Out of 15 Agencies Targeted in 'Project 2025'
Concerns Over Conflict of Interest in NASA Review
U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are pushing for federal budget cuts and downsizing, but Reuters reported on the 12th (local time) that these efforts are ideological decisions rather than actual efficiency measures.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Republican Congressional Budget Office (CBO), pointed out that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), targeted for dismantling by the Trump administration, account for a very small portion of the federal budget. Holtz-Eakin said, "They (DOGE) will not go after agencies that do what they like."
DOGE announced through a real-time tracker that it had saved $37.69 billion as of the previous day. However, no concrete evidence was provided.
Reuters noted that among the 15 agencies targeted by DOGE, nine were identified as dismantling or downsizing targets in the policy recommendation book "Project 2025," published by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation during last year's U.S. presidential election. In response, Bill Hogland, former chief Republican budget advisor in the Senate, said, "This is not about budget cuts but about philosophical and ideological differences conservatives have with these agencies."
According to CNN and other outlets, President Trump said he wants to immediately shut down the Department of Education. In fact, American conservatives have advocated for the closure of the Department of Education since the Ronald Reagan administration, arguing that the federal government should not intervene in schools. Additionally, USAID has been criticized by conservatives for sending billions of dollars in aid to countries that are not allies, and CFPB has been a frequent target of conservative criticism as an abuse of power by progressives.
Bloomberg reported that DOGE is also planning to review the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, is one of NASA’s major contractors, raising concerns about conflicts of interest. However, Musk rebutted these concerns the day before, stating, "All actions of DOGE are being transparently disclosed." NASA also announced plans to implement policies to prevent conflicts of interest.
In December last year, Musk criticized NASA’s manned lunar exploration program Artemis, saying it was "very inefficient because it is a program to maximize jobs rather than maximize results." Currently, NASA has postponed the Artemis program due to budget and technical issues.
According to sources, six space company representatives advising President Trump urged the abolition of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). Analysts suggest that downsizing SLS would strengthen SpaceX. However, since SLS-related jobs are concentrated in Republican stronghold states Alabama and Texas, abolishing SLS is expected to be difficult.
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