As the old saying goes:
Do as I say, not as I do.
The same could be said for the on-going battle happening right now between Democrats, Republicans, and the Trump administration in regards to efforts to curb — and even slash — wasteful government spending that is impacting the wallets of Americans.
Prominent Democrats this week have been fuming in particular over Elon Musk — who has been left in charge of DOGE – Donald Trump’s Department of Government Effiency – which is attempting to cut spending across the US in several departments.
While the cost cutting efforts have been blasted as controversial by the mainstream media, it was a major platform of President Trump’s presidential campaign (which he won in a landslide).
But despite a relentless onslaught coming from the Democratic Party about the moves, Musk and other Republicans are now pointing out that Democrats have also tried cost-cutting at a federal level. Case in point?
This uncovered video of former President Barack Obama (and former President Bill Clinton).
Musk shared videos of Clinton and Obama talking about “creating a government that costs less”, and “eliminating 12% of the federal workforce”.
Musk asked what has changed in the Democrats since then, as both Clinton and Obama seemed in favor.
One unearthed clip in particular of Obama, while in office was of particular intrigue when he said:
“From the day I took office, one of the commitments I made to the American people was that we would do a better job in Washington of rooting out wasteful spending.
“We thought it was appropriate of rooting out waste – big and small – in a cost-effective way… In the meantime, we don’t need to wait for congress in order to do something about wasteful spending out there.”
What happened to them?
pic.twitter.com/M9ER0I8Y34— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2025
The clip was shared by Missouri Republican Congressman Eric Burlison, who wrote: “What happened to the Democrat Party? They need to revisit what their overlords promised about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. I will play this video today during the Doge hearing.”
What happened to the Democrat Party?
They need to revisit what their overlords promised about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse.
I will play this video today during @DOGECommittee hearing. pic.twitter.com/XlL6YWL9Sh
— Rep. Eric Burlison (@RepEricBurlison) February 12, 2025
Those former presidents seemingly agreed with what is happening right now.
But Musk was forced to defend the rapid changes Tuesday during a press conference in the Oval Office, saying that Trump’s administration is responding to voter mandate.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said.
Despite similar cuts that Obama and Clinton advocated for, Democratic Party leaders continue to blast the federal reform moves as unconstitutional and vowed to fight to maintain the current spending levels
“We will not sit silently by and watch the Administration recklessly and lawlessly dismantle our federal agencies, fire and harass federal employees, withhold federal funds, and hack our private and sensitive data,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said recently.
As previously reported by The Horn News, the cuts are part of broader workforce reductions that could transform the federal government’s 2 million civilian employees. Defense and Homeland Security departments are currently exempt from the cuts, which DOGE aims to complete by July 2026.