What Services Could Be Cut by Trump’s Government Efficiency Program

President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious government efficiency plan is stirring concerns over potential impacts on essential services, from the work of U.S. embassies, to NASA, the FBI and veterans’ healthcare.
The newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, aims to cut what it considers “wasteful” spending by, in part, defunding programs with expired congressional authorizations. If Ramaswamy and Musk push forward with their efficiency targets, critical services could face severe cutbacks.
Economists like Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, raised concerns at the potential fallout. “It appears he may not have fully examined what these cuts entail,” Riedl told Newsweek on Wednesday, adding that the cuts could impact programs traditionally prioritized by conservatives— even programs Trump has pledged to protect.
Ramaswamy defended the cuts on X, saying, “Over half a trillion dollars of taxpayer funds ($516 billion+) goes each year to programs Congress has allowed to expire. There are 1,200+ programs that no longer have authorization but still receive appropriations. This is totally nuts.”
While his statement resonates with advocates of fiscal reform, Riedl warns that the broad approach could reduce or eliminate funding for essential programs impacting public safety, international relations and national security.
“I don’t think they actually want to cut veterans’ healthcare, NASA, or embassies,” Riedl noted, “but the problem is they saw these expired programs and called for eliminating them without checking which programs were included.”
While there’s broad agreement on the need for a more efficient federal bureaucracy, Riedl said that real reform requires more than high-profile cuts or “headline-grabbing moves” like firing bureaucrats or shuttering departments en masse.
“It’s not as simple as firing half of the federal employees, like how Musk handled Twitter’s costs. The federal budget primarily consists of benefit payments to individuals, not employee salaries or bureaucracy,” Riedl remarks.
Trump’s efficiency team is racing toward a July 4, 2026 self-imposed deadline, aligning with the country’s 250th anniversary. Musk, who estimates potential savings at $2 trillion, has called for “shockwaves through the system” to target “anyone involved in government waste,” signaling a strong commitment to deep cuts.
But while Riedl acknowledges an opportunity to address inefficiency, he warns the savings goals may be overly ambitious. Achieving them would require cuts to nearly a third of the federal budget, affecting programs that many conservatives and Trump supporters value.
For instance, the Veterans’ Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996, which hasn’t been reauthorized since 1998, currently provides $120 billion annually in healthcare for millions of veterans.
“The federal budget wasn’t built by one person, and no single person can grasp the administrative complexities of 10,000 federal programs,” Riedl said.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing 800,000 federal employees, has echoed similar concerns, warning that critical services could be at risk.
“Millions of Americans should brace for massive cuts to benefits and services they rely on for survival,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley cautioned, pointing to potential impacts on Social Security, Medicare and other safety-net programs.
Riedl said that achieving such a target is exceptionally complex.
“Despite their business success, Musk and Ramaswamy haven’t shown a basic understanding of federal spending. Reducing costs requires examining the details of thousands of programs, not just making high-level cuts. It’s a complex task that impacts taxpayers—not just shareholders,” he said.