Steve Bannon has warned Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), that he needs to be “careful” about cutting Medicaid as a “lot of MAGA” uses the health care plan.
Bannon, a former White House chief strategist during President Donald Trump‘s first term, made the remarks during Thursday’s episode of his War Room podcast.
Newsweek has contacted Bannon and Musk via the press office of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Bannon, who is influential within the MAGA movement, is noting that the massive federal spending cuts being pushed by Musk and Trump could also affect millions of voters who supported the president in November. Bannon has also previously criticized Musk, who has become a powerful figure in Trump’s administration, calling him a “truly evil guy” in January.
What to Know
Musk has suggested he could cut “at least $2 trillion” from U.S. government spending by eradicating “waste.” That would amount to cutting around 30 percent of total federal government spending.
Speaking on his War Room podcast, Bannon said there appears to be “confusion and mayhem” on Capitol Hill regarding where major cuts will come from. The House Budget Committee unveiled a draft budget on Wednesday that includes reducing spending by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade.
Bannon noted that $1.5 trillion over 10 years amounts to $150 billion a year, suggesting this approach is “not going to work.”
Bannon has long been an advocate of reducing federal spending. A recent Wall Street Journal profile of War Room reported Bannon called Russ Vought, the newly confirmed White House budget chief, demanding he urge Musk to speed up his cost-cutting plans as “we look like idiots.”
On Thursday, more than 30 Democratic senators wrote to Trump expressing outrage over Musk and DOGE officials gaining access to key payment and contracting systems at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The senators, including New York’s Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, told the president that Medicaid and Medicare “must not be raided to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”
The federal government spent nearly $1.5 trillion on health care in fiscal 2022, with Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program costing $609 billion, according to the Tax Policy Center.
The federal government spent $6.75 trillion in the most recent fiscal year (from October 2023 to September 2024), according to the U.S. Treasury.
What People Are Saying
Steve Bannon on Thursday’s War Room episode: “Where are the DOGE cuts? We need them all. They’ve had enough time to identify at least the waste, fraud, and abuse in these different organizations. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
“I think it’s generally confusion and mayhem on Capitol Hill. But hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there’s some logic here. Maybe they’re making some progress on this. But until we see the math—and I mean hundreds of billions of dollars of cuts—and stop whining about entitlements, get into that discretionary spending, get into the Pentagon, get into Medicaid. Medicaid, you’ve got to be careful with because a lot of MAGA is on Medicaid. If you don’t think so, you are dead wrong. Medicaid is going to be a complicated one. You just can’t take a meat ax to it, although I would love to.”
Elon Musk in February 11 post on X: “At this point, I am 100 percent certain that the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR. It’s not even close.”
Democratic senators writing to President Trump: “We write to say no to Elon Musk and DOGE and demand hands off Medicare and Medicaid. We strongly oppose any efforts by Musk—or anyone else in your administration—cutting or damaging these vital programs. Medicare and Medicaid must not be raided to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Every cut risks Americans paying more, waiting longer, and wading through more insurance red tape for care. Every cut risks hospitals and community health centers struggling harder to keep their doors open and forcing health providers and workers out of their jobs.”
What Happens Next
House Republicans‘ budget resolution is set to move to a vote to the full chamber after being cleared by the House Budget Committee on Thursday.
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