Elon Musk's 'DOGE' wants to cut protection for Fauci and drag queen parties as part of Trump's $1.9 trillion cut

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are getting their waste-trimming clippers ready.

President-elect Donald Trump this week named the billionaire Tesla proprietor and the erstwhile Republican statesmanlike campaigner arsenic the co-leaders of a caller Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The 2 concern execs are tasked with shaving trillions of dollars disconnected the national government's yearly $6.75 trillion spend, by cutting waste, reddish tape, and downsizing national agencies.

The examples of needless authorities largesse are each excessively communal — from the Pentagon's large overspends connected soap dispensers to questionable resistance performances successful South American cities.

Trump likens his cost-cutting effort to the Manhattan Project, America's atomic weaponry programme successful the 1940s, and says it volition assistance 'dismantle authorities bureaucracy.'

Musk estimates helium tin prevention taxpayers $1.9 trillion. He promises 'maximum transparency' from a squad that volition run extracurricular the regular confines of government.

'We volition besides person a leaderboard for astir insanely dumb spending of your taxation dollars,' Musk posted connected X.

'This volition beryllium some highly tragic and highly entertaining.'

Still, critics accidental DOGE hands much powerfulness to the world's richest man, who donated millions to get Trump elected and whose companies could payment from the caller authorities portfolio.

As the axe comes down, DailyMail.com takes a look astatine immoderate of the wildest examples of authorities overspend.

RODENT ROID RAGE

Many of the quirkiest cases of authorities spending are undertaken by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has paid to pump hamsters afloat of steroids and got them to fight successful the sanction of science.

That $3 cardinal survey by researchers astatine Northeastern University was aimed astatine assessing 'whether existent drugs for assertive younker suppress steroid-induced aggression,' says a authorities report.

But rodent 'roid rage' probe was conscionable the extremity of the iceberg. The NIH has besides spent $2.3 cardinal injecting six-month-old beagle puppies with cocaine, and $1.1 cardinal connected grooming mice to binge alcohol.

NAVY GOURMETS

According to the adage, an service marches connected its stomach.

The Pentagon whitethorn person taken this excessively literally, forking retired $192,952 connected top-of-the-line Starbucks espresso machines' for the US Navy betwixt 2017 and 2021.

It's not wide precisely which admiral signed disconnected connected luxury java machines. But an old-fashioned 'cup of Joe' intelligibly was not bully capable for the gourmets who support America connected the precocious seas.

MILITARY MARKUPS

The Department of Defense has a famously atrocious grounds erstwhile it comes to buying around.

Take the Air Force, which has been gathering its C-17 cargo planes since 2011, but inactive cannot root parts astatine just and tenable prices, says a caller inspector wide report.

The Air Force overpaid $992,856 for a twelve kinds of spare parts nether a 20-year woody with Boeing worthy $35.6 billion, it says.

The astir egregious illustration were in-flight soap dispensers, which were marked up by an eye-popping 7,943 percent, says the report.

MONKEY BUSINESS

Another illustration of NIH excess is its $33 cardinal payout to a steadfast that runs a arguable 'monkey island,' a colony of immoderate 3,000 primates utilized successful probe labs. 

The backing assemblage spends millions connected studying the gambling habits of monkeys, and what happens erstwhile you dose the animals with methamphetamine. 

A Florida laboratory adjacent received $477,000 to screen probe into 'transgender' monkeys — males injected with pistillate hormones. 

DOWNLOAD DUPES 

Joe Rogan does not inquire for handouts to support his podcast streaming.

Still, determination are plentifulness of little fashionable download shows that question authorities assistance to support up production. 

Since 2020, the national authorities has spent immoderate $324 cardinal on projects involving lesser-known podcasts, says Open the Books. 

One of them, Regeneration Rising, received $446,353 from the Department of Agriculture, to assistance marque shows astir 'building a queer husbandman community.'

Another one, called Subtitle, received $227,420 from the National Endowment of the Humanities. 

Its makers produced a amusement astir a caller gender-neutral pronoun being introduced successful Swedish.

Finally, Fullbright Forward received $20,000 from the Department of State for a bid astir the Fullbright program. One of its episodes focussed connected 'identity' and the 'impact of whiteness.'

DIVERSITY DOULAS

Ramaswamy already has his oculus connected national spending helium wants to chopped —those pushing retired diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts crossed the government.

The Department of Health and Human Services spends immoderate astatine an yearly outgo of $38.7 cardinal each twelvemonth connected the salaries of 294 DEI staffers, galore of them connected six-figure salaries.

It doles retired different $29.4 cardinal successful payroll for 7 offices dealing with the wellness of minorities, according to Open The Books, a authorities discarded watchdog.

Spending is besides funneled into questionable enactment for achromatic churches, 'diverse' assemblage researchers, LGBTQ+ and indigenous groups, and adjacent doulas, who enactment women during gestation and childbirth.

'An businesslike authorities has nary spot for DEI bloat,' Ramaswamy posted connected X.

'Time to DOGE it.'

BENEFITS BEHIND BARS

Social Security past twelvemonth paid retired $171 cardinal successful unemployment benefits to prisoners, nether the mistaken content that they were inactive escaped and retired of work.

Medicaid and Medicare besides sent retired $101 cardinal successful improper payments, mostly due to the fact that of fraud. Meanwhile, taxation cheats swindled the IRS retired of immoderate $546 million.

Better auditing could assistance trim these losses, adjacent though it would apt besides necessitate hiring much radical to show these programs.

RUSSIAN CAT BRAINS

In different bizarre misstep, the NIH successful 2021 awarded $549,000 to a Russian laboratory performing experiments connected cats, including removing portion of their brains to spot if they could inactive locomotion connected treadmills.

President Joe Biden has already halted the travel of payer wealth to the Pavlov Institute successful St. Petersburg and others, but the DOGE squad could find plentifulness much examples of wacky probe to trim.

DRIVING DR. FAUCI

The government's erstwhile apical infectious illness adept Dr Anthony Fauci, has doubtless served his state for galore years.

Still, galore taxpayers whitethorn resent the whopping $15 cardinal they've spent connected his backstage information item since helium retired.

A nationalist records petition by Open The Books showed that Fauci got a publicly-funded chauffeur and a dedicated information squad of US Marshals.

The erstwhile authoritative has been taxable to decease threats implicit the hard-line anti-Covid measures helium helped enforce during the pandemic.

DRAG ME TO ECUADOR

In different illustration of DEI bloat, the US State Department was exposed successful 2022 for doling retired immoderate $20,000 for resistance shows astatine a taste halfway successful Ecuador.

The Centro Ecuatoriano Norteamericano Abraham Lincoln, a nonprofit successful Cuenca, received the funds arsenic a mode to 'promote diverseness and inclusion' successful the region, authoritative documents show.

It paid for a twelve resistance performances and workshops to code 'challenges' among section students and young professionals successful the South American country.

Many Americans volition beryllium gladsome to spot the backmost of specified spending successful the aftermath of Trump's reelection connected an anti-woke platform. 

John Hart, CEO of Open The Books, says helium has precocious hopes for Trump's DOGE plans, but warns that past efforts to trim the abdominous person crashed and burned.

The department's extremity is 'attainable,' helium says, but requires absorption connected the 'huge mandatory spending load that makes up the bulk of the yearly budget.'

'There are endless examples of frivolous spending they tin snip distant first,' Hart told DailyMail.com.

'The shrimp connected treadmills illustration is not conscionable immoderate canard, determination are countless casual wins to enactment connected the board.'