If one billion dollars is equal to a school bus filled to the brim with $100 bills, the United States’ annual budget is equal to about 6,300 school buses. These funds pay for everything from keeping parks open and building new highways to unemployment benefits, the President’s salary, and the military’s tanks, planes, ships, and soldiers. At the same time, the United States has a budget deficit, meaning that more than a thousand of those school buses are filled with money that the government borrows to pay its bills. Where did this budget deficit come from? Does it matter? What needs to happen to reduce it?

As Baby Boomers continue to live longer than previous generations, demand for long-term care for Seniors is increasing. What is long-term care, how much does it cost, and who pays for it?

On President Trump’s first day in office, he issued an executive order to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk. DOGE’s mandate is to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Two months in, this brief asks: what is DOGE doing? What savings have their efforts produced?