Reducing penalties for parole violators, slashing charter school funding, and making the military energy efficient are some ways that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., thinks the Department of Government Efficiency can be improved.
In a letter to billionaire Elon Musk, appointed by President Donald Trump to head DOGE, Warren listed multiple alternatives to some Republican money-saving proposals that could cut Medicare programs or increase taxes.
“In the interest of taking aggressive, bipartisan action to ensure sustainable spending, protect taxpayer dollars, curb abusive practices by giant corporations, and improve middle-class Americans’ quality of life, I would be happy to work with you on these matters,” Warren wrote.
Some of Warren’s suggestions have already been floated by both sides of the aisle, such as negotiating less expensive Department of Defense contracts and cracking down on pharmacy benefit managers that hike medication prices.
Other, more partisan proposals are less feasible.
Warren recommended reducing or eliminating funding for the federal Charter Schools Program, which provides grants to support the operations of public charter schools. This would effectively shut down the program and restrict school choice, something most Americans and Trump support.
She also noted that the Department of Homeland Security could “conserve resources by deprioritizing costly arrests and other enforcement actions targeting marijuana activity” and by releasing elderly criminals from the prison system.
Doing away with incarceration as a punishment for violating parole would also save the government money, she added.
Also included are various tax increases for wealthy individuals and corporations – including raising the corporate income tax rate to 28% and the corporate alternative minimum tax rate to 21% – and imposing the estate tax, or death tax, on the non-wealthy. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in his first term, lowered the corporate income tax rate to 21%.
“This letter provides you with 30 recommendations that would save at least $2 trillion – allowing you to meet your goal of cutting “at least” $2 trillion in federal spending,” Warren said.
