The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims on its website that it has cut $65 billion in wasteful spending thus far. The initial cuts have been spearheaded by massive reductions in the federal workforce in departments such as USAID, which alone is responsible for $6.5 billion of the savings up to this point.

Of course, many have been basking in the successes of the new department. In fact, Elon Musk, head of DOGE, went as far as to post on X, “Balanced budget is going to happen.” Elon’s post responded to President Trump’s message on Truth Social, saying, “Balanced Budget!!! DJT.” Naturally, every conservative would like to see the budget balanced, but if this dream is to become a reality, it cannot happen solely at the hands of DOGE. The dirty little secret is that the only way to balance the budget and truly begin to pay off the national debt is to reform entitlements.

According to government statistics, the United States ran a federal deficit of $1.83 trillion last year. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. has only experienced a budget surplus four times at the end of the fiscal year, most recently in 2001. With massive deficits year in and year out, it is easy to understand why our national debt is currently sitting at over $36 trillion.

The Manhattan Institute’s most recently published edition of the “Budget Chart Book” indicates the mandatory spending for the fiscal year of 2024 was about 73% of the national budget, including entitlements, while the remaining 27% was allocated toward discretionary spending. The chart further divides the discretionary spending by showing that 13% of the total budget is used for defense, leaving only 14% for remaining discretionary programs.

It doesn’t take a math genius to see the problem. If these statistics are accurate, even if every cent of discretionary spending were cut, the U.S. would still run a national deficit, increasing its debt each year. In addition, that would leave our military with no funding, and according to a 2024 Gallup poll, the majority of Americans believe either that the spending on the military is “about right” or “too little,” meaning cutting defense spending by any significant amount should be out of the question.

The Manhattan Institute’s projections for 2008-2035 suggest that entitlement spending and interest on the debt are expected to “account for 112% of increased spending.” In other words, America is heading toward a perpetual debt, maintained by an annual deficit.

Multiple Republican leaders have abandoned calls for entitlement reform. President Trump himself said in December in an interview with NBC, “We’re not touching social security.” He recently reiterated that point in an interview with Sean Hannity, saying, “Social Security won’t be touched, other than if there’s fraud or something, we’re going to find it. It’s going to be strengthened, but [it] won’t be touched.” He added, “Medicare, Medicaid — none of that stuff is going to be touched. You don’t have to.”

Not only have many Republicans abandoned conversations about pruning these programs, but they have also forsaken fiscal responsibility in practice. Even amidst Trump’s triumphs in office during his first term, he increased the national debt by over $8 trillion. A considerable portion of the spending can be attributed to COVID relief, which may have been necessary because of the government lockdowns. However, spending should still not reach such incredibly high amounts. The party now stands at a crossroads: to return to disciplined spending and conservative rhetoric on fiscal policy or unchecked and unmolested spending on useless expenditures and broken programs like entitlements.

The Republicans are in control of the House, Senate, and White House, while the American people have recently rejected Democrats’ economic policies. Of course, razor thin majorities in the House and Senate will affect Republicans’ ability to make drastic cuts. Politics is complicated and thus it is vital that we consider the political realities of the slim majorities in both chambers of Congress as well as the issues that may arise when seeking reelection. Nonetheless if not now, when will Republicans begin proposing cuts, restructuring, or the eradication of some entitlements? As shown earlier, entitlements are leading to a steady increase in our national debt, and programs like Social Security are threatened by an aging population with increasing lifespans and fewer young, tax-paying Americans to pay into the system.

Already there have been slight improvements made. Republicans in the House passed a budget bill this week that included a requirement for the Energy and Commerce Committee to make at least $880 billion in cuts. Most likely these cuts will primarily come from Medicaid. However, this is only a step in the right direction, especially when considering the bill included heavy tax cuts which will decrease federal revenue.

There have been some propositions of restructuring entitlements without eliminating any programs that in tandem with other cuts could begin to move us toward a balanced budget. The Congressional Budget Office released a report making suggestions for various cuts in programs called “Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2025 to 2034.” One such suggestion is to reduce Social Security benefits for high earners by lowering the primary insurance amount (PIA). Another option is to establish caps on federal spending for Medicaid by creating an overall spending cap or a per-enrollee spending cap. These in addition to dozens of other recommendations like reducing federal Medicaid matching rates, reducing Medicare advantage benchmarks, and many more could begin to chip away at the deficit and eventually the national debt.

Undoubtedly, DOGE can cut a substantial amount of money our government has been squandering. For decades, billions of dollars have been wasted through a corrupt system with little accountability. Trump and Musk should use DOGE to audit the bureaucracies, expose fraud, and utilize taxpayer dollars for valuable purposes. I’m confident that when DOGE has completed its task, the figure will reach hundreds of billions of dollars saved and maybe even more, but it’s time to accept that authentic change will only come when Republicans eliminate or, at the very least, drastically alter our entitlement programs.

Otherwise, America may never see a balanced budget again. DOGE is an excellent tool that all Americans should applaud, but if we view it as anything more than “a good start” and a steppingstone toward effective change, we will never solve the problem.