Republican former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who cut the Hoosier state’s workforce by 18 percent and turned a $700 million deficit into a surplus while he was in office (2005-2013), is calling Elon Musk‘s DOGE goal of reducing federal spending by $2 trillion “preposterous.”
[NOTE: Daniels’ own experience as a budget hawk makes clear that Musk’s efforts are hardly representative of new thinking, though he has been granted sweeping power. A New York Times profile of Daniels circa 2011 notes that “he says he avoids using the phrase ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ because ‘it’s too glib — there’s no wand you can wave [to delete debt].'” That phrase — waste, fraud and abuse — is, of course, the mantra Musk and DOGE rely on.]
Talking about Musk’s ambitions, Daniels told Politico: “I certainly would have cautioned against throwing out a number that’s just preposterous.” He added: “There’s a real value in an effort like this because they illuminate the fact that the government does a lot of very silly or unnecessary or even counterproductive things, but I would have urged that they go achieve some real success first and then talk. Talk less, do more.”
(Before becoming Indiana’s Governor, Daniels was the Director of the Office and Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration; after his governorship Daniels served as President of Purdue University until 2022.)
Republican governors tried to slash state budgets. They have advice for Elon Musk. https://t.co/gEmD8M5Vml
— POLITICO (@politico) March 2, 2025
Responding to DOGE’s firing and then re-hiring of federal employees, especially those working on nuclear weapons programs and responding to the spread of Ebola and bird flu, Daniels said: “Personnel costs are such a small part of the money federal government spends and wastes.”
Daniels doesn’t oppose Trump, Musk or DOGE, but voiced skepticism on their approach to reaching that “preposterous” goal. Daniels said: “This president has taken off the table the only way you’d ever get close to such a number, and that’s entitlement reforms.” He added, “If they won’t touch Medicaid, then they don’t have a chance of doing much that’s real.”
Note: House Republicans narrowly passed a budget resolution last week that seeks to extend tax cuts and calls for $880 billion in spending cuts from the agency that oversees Medicaid, while projecting to save $1.9 trillion over ten years.
Some House Republicans initially balked at the resolution, which did not mention Medicaid by name, but only Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted nay on the resolution. (Medicaid provides health insurance for more than 70 million American adults and children with limited income and resources, including many in rural red states.)
Note: On Friday, the Purdue Exponent reported that the university’s Mitch Daniels School of Business will implement a new Investment Banking Academy program that will start for students in the Fall of 2025. Purdue Clinical Associate Professor of Finance Alexander Boquist, Ph.D., a former Goldman Sachs banker, will serve as the academy’s primary faculty advisor.
The Mitch Daniels School of Business will implement a new Investment Banking Academy program that will start for students in the Fall of 2025. https://t.co/hB4mjdtBVB
— Purdue Exponent (@purdueexponent) February 28, 2025
