Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy want to cut $2 trillion and make the government more efficient. It’s a high priority since the United States is barreling toward a fiscal crisis. Yet despite the mounting evidence of unsustainable spending and deficits, lots of people seem to believe that the goals of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are dead on arrival. Why? Because these doubters believe that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are completely off-limits for cuts.

This is nonsense.
Spending on these three programs represents roughly half of 2025’s $7 trillion budget, and more if you include Veterans Affairs spending. It’s true that Musk and Ramaswamy will need Congress to help make major changes. It’s also true that cutting as much as they intend to without touching Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid would spark serious political drama. And yes, cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits isn’t popular — so much so that politicians would rather ignore the problem.
Yet this does not take entitlements off the table for cuts and review. Mindlessly ignoring their unsustainability just because they are popular is shortsighted and actively irresponsible. It perpetuates a political culture in which difficult choices are avoided, fiscal irresponsibility accelerates, and long-term economic stability is sacrificed for short-term political expediency.
Besides, doing nothing will lead to Medicare benefits being cut by 11 percent and Social Security Benefits being cut by 23 percent in less than a decade when their respective trust funds expire. Politicians can swear on the Bible that they won’t touch these programs; it’s only true if they let the scheduled cuts take place.
So let me tell you why Musk and Ramaswamy’s plan isn’t DOA and how entitlement spending could be on the table without too much pain.
First, bury the myth that the so-called entitlement programs — Medicare and Social Security in particular — are somehow sacrosanct or immune to legislativ...