Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy say they will slash big government spending and “cut the federal government down to size” as the heads of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a Wall Street Journal op-ed. And pro-lifers are applauding their plan to specifically target U.S. abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, and Ramaswamy, the founder of the pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, said they have a “historic opportunity” to solve a long-standing problem.
“Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections,” they wrote.
“This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers,” the opinion piece continued.
President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of the new efficiency department with Musk and Ramaswamy as the leaders earlier this month.
According to a statement from Trump, the DOGE will advise his administration on how to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies – essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement.”
According to Musk and Ramaswamy, progressive groups are among biggest offenders, including Planned Parenthood which pulls in “nearly $300 million annual federal expenditures” – a hefty price tag.
Those figures might actually be well below the real amount, according to a Planned Parenthood fact sheet. Just last year, the abortion giant reportedly received nearly $700 million in taxpayer funds while performing a record 392,000 abortions. That’s nearly $2 million a day.
Planned Parenthood is already protesting Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s plan to go after them, saying its services “will disappear if they get their way.”
“Musk and Ramaswamy are making clear how they intend to use their power: denying people care and wreaking havoc on our public health system, of which Planned Parenthood is an integral part — all in the name of supposed ‘government efficiency.’ We’ve been here before — we are not new to shut down and ‘defund’ fights. We fended off a number of these attacks during Trump’s first term — and Planned Parenthood health centers are still there serving millions of patients across the nation,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
However, the DOGE leaders say the U.S. Constitution is their “North Star” for reform and specifically two Supreme Court rulings will “reverse decadeslong executive power grabs.”
Pro-lifers point out that even if the DOGE faces obstacles in defunding Planned Parenthood, President-elect Trump could fully enforce the Hyde Amendment across government agencies.
Brent Leatherwood, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, sent a letter to Trump’s transition team asking him to create an executive order reinstating the amendment.
As CBN News reported, the Hyde Amendment is a provision that first took effect in 1980 and blocks the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except in rare cases to save the life of the mother or in situations in which a pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.
“By issuing an executive order committing to full enforcement of the Hyde Amendment,” Leatherwood wrote, “President Trump will usher in a renewed focus on protecting life and the deeply-held religious beliefs of taxpayers from government overreach.”
Meanwhile, the DOGE says its goal is to help end overspending by July 4, 2026.
“There is no better birthday gift to our nation on its 250th anniversary than to deliver a federal government that would make our Founders proud,” they wrote in the WSJ.
Pro-life advocates like Lila Rose, the founder and president of Live Action, a pro-life non-profit organization, are positively responding to the news.
In a WSJ OpEd, @elonmusk and @VivekGRamaswamy
call for a partial taxpayer defund of abortion chain Planned Parenthood via @DOGEAmazing! pic.twitter.com/IjLoqALiuK
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) November 21, 2024
“We must defund Planned Parenthood. $699,000,000 a year is outrageous to an outside non-profit. 34% of their revenue is from taxpayers,” said conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on X. “Make them raise their own money. We shouldn’t subsidize them!”
“Planned Parenthood, go fund yourself,” said Kristin Hawkins, the president of Students for Life for America.
Planned Parenthood ended the lives of 392,715 unborn children in a single year and had $2.5B in net assets according to its last report. They should never get taxpayer dollars.
Thank you @ElonMusk & @VivekGRamaswamy for focusing on this important issue: https://t.co/ymGbwdefSh
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) November 20, 2024
Faith leaders are also responding to the announcement pointing out that God is using unbelievers to pull funding from the “satanic” work of Planned Parenthood.
“We are living in historic times. Who could ever have dreamt that two billionaires who do not profess any faith whatever would be the ones to defund the satanic project that is Planned Parenthood?” Eric Metaxas told the site ChurchLeaders. “This is more solid proof that God does most of his best work outside of the church. If only the church could really see this and wake up.”
Worship leader Sean Feucht wrote, “God will use anyone to accomplish His purposes on the earth. When weak ‘Christian’ politicians were spineless for decades to do what was right, He used two non-churched billionaires to get the job done.”
God will use anyone to accomplish His purposes on the earth.
When weak “Christian” politicians were spineless for decades to do what was right, He used two non-churched billionaires to get the job done.
Thank you @elonmusk @VivekGRamaswamy pic.twitter.com/I1IeLwDj99
— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) November 22, 2024
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