This article was first published on April 14, 2025
Elon Musk fired back at critics of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by sharing a resurfaced clip of former President Barack Obama announcing a nearly identical initiative over a decade ago.
Taking to his X platform, Musk reposted a 2011 video of Obama launching the “Campaign to Cut Waste,” an effort to reduce unnecessary government spending. Musk captioned it, noting the similarities: “Sounds exactly like DOGE.”
In the video, Obama even joked that he was putting then–Vice President Joe Biden in charge of the campaign, saying, “Nobody messes with Joe.”
Obama highlighted several examples of what he called “pointless waste and stupid spending that doesn’t benefit anybody” uncovered early in the campaign—including the continued funding of a website for a folk music group called the “Fiddlin’ Foresters.”
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
Obama: “Everyone knows that getting rid of the deficit will require some tough decisions, and that includes cutting back on billions of dollars in programs that a lot of people care about. But what should be easy is getting rid of the pointless waste and stupid spending that doesn’t benefit anybody, waste we should be getting rid of even if we didn’t have a deficit. Sure, some of these cuts aren’t that big, but no amount of waste is acceptable. Not when it’s your money, not at a time when so many Americans are already cutting back. Just as families are living within their means, government should too. Did you know the federal government pays for a website devoted to a folk music ensemble made up of forest rangers? They called the Fiddlin’ Foresters. I’ll put their music on my iPod, but I’m not paying for their website. And there are hundreds of similar sites that we should consolidate or just get rid of. By the way, you’re not only paying for websites no one needs. You’re paying for thousands of buildings all across the country no one uses.
Obama: For the last decade, the government’s owned a massive and completely empty warehouse in the middle Brooklyn, for example. Now, the government hadn’t been able to sell this building and others like it because of red tape, main Washington politics, that held things up for years, but we’re finally cutting through all that and plan to get rid of these buildings in the months ahead. We need to step up our game. We need to go after every dime. We need to make government work for you. That’s why, starting today, I’ve asked the vice president to lead a renewed effort to hunt down misspent tax dollars in every agency and department of this government. We’re calling it the campaign to cut waste, and I know Joe’s the right man to lead it, because nobody messes with Joe.”
Biden: “There’s a new standard by which the government is going to function from this point on. The American people are entitled to transparency. Look, a lot of this depends on new sophisticated methods, but it also — it also, we know, depends on relentless focus on making this a priority; focus that can’t be delegated. We’re holding ourselves accountable and we’re deeply committed and focused on making government function better. We’re not just eliminating fraud and waste. We hope to be instilling an entire new culture that not only our administration, but every succeeding administration will, in fact, pursue. We’re going to give you the government you expect and deserve.”
The clip of Obama was originally recorded as he prepared for his 2012 re-election campaign.
Some commenters on Musk’s repost argued that the initiative ultimately had little impact on curbing federal spending.
Here’s why it didn’t happen during Obama’s time in the White House, “ That’s why, starting today, I’ve asked the vice president to lead a renewed effort to hunt down misspent tax dollars in every agency and department of this government. We’re calling it the campaign to cut waste, and I know Joe’s the right man to lead it, because nobody messes with Joe.”