Efforts to cut government waste should start with runaway contractor spending, AFGE president says

WASHINGTON – American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley Wednesday issued the following statement:

“Millions of Americans should brace for massive cuts to benefits and services they rely on for their survival under plans to target government spending and operations.

“On Tuesday, President-elect Trump announced he had appointed business executives Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a private commission tasked with recommending drastic changes to the federal government’s programs and operations, which Musk has said could cut federal spending by $2 trillion.

“Budget cuts of this magnitude, coupled with the massive tax reductions Trump has said he will implement, will affect vital programs that tens of millions of Americans currently rely on for their financial security and their health and safety. This includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, food assistance for low-income families, veterans’ benefits and health care, and so much more.

“By their very nature, cuts of this size also would require slashing spending on our military, homeland security, federal law enforcement, and virtually every aspect of our government operations. This kind of financial pressure would lead to painful, widespread reductions in services that will affect Americans from every walk of life.

“To really attack government waste, the administration should target private contractors who are price gouging American taxpayers to deliver poorer service at higher cost while their corporate profits and executive pay skyrocket.”

Common Dream’s work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.

  benefits, cuts, services, trump