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Ramaswamy wants to defund unauthorized government programs - like veteran healthcare (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 10 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

77 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

Vivek Ramaswamy, recently appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has proposed defunding federal programs that lack current congressional authorization.

This could affect programs like veterans’ healthcare, NASA, and early education initiatives, which still receive funding despite expired authorizations.

Ramaswamy argues that cutting these programs could save billions, and he’s committed to targeting expenditures that “don’t advance the interests of American citizens.”

DOGE, co-led by Elon Musk, aims to curb government spending, with Musk estimating potential cuts of up to $2 trillion.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Okay I agree with the other comments here but I'm a bit confused on this.

How are we still spending money on these things if congress doesn't approve it? The legislature sets the budget, did they just forget to make it official and extend these? Also why even have a phase out period in the first place?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 56 minutes ago* (last edited 54 minutes ago)

I think it's because there is a difference between the Budget and Appropriations in Congress. The budget is a plan, where programs are authorized and an overall budget is set. The appropriations process is what assigns particular dollars to particular discretionary programs. (Certain programs deemed "mandatory" by Congress, like Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the debt, get allocated money automatically and are not involved in appropriations)

If I had to guess, I would say that once a program is authorized once under a budget, it can continue as long as it (or the Federal department it is part of) is not specifically de-authorized, and as long as it continues to receive appropriations specifically for that program.

So, it is likely that this is all about Ramaswamy's total ignorance of how Congress works. Which tracks pretty well with what this DOGE is all about.