Fox News Host Flat-Out Asks Trump Treasury Chief If DOGE Job Purges ‘Cut Into Growth’ In Economy?
Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo flat-out asked Trump Secretary of the Treasury if Elon Musk’s DOGE chainsaw job purges “cut into growth” in the economy.
The Trump-Musk Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) steamroller has come to dominate the discussion of Trump’s first month in office. But some recent polls and a raucous town hall meeting in Roswell, Georgia, on Thursday show signs that the initiative is engendering anxiety, resentment, and discontent even among Trump supporters.
But President Trump is fully on board, posting encouragement for Musk over the weekend.
On this week’s edition of Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures, Bartiromo confronted Bessent over the possibility that the steep job cuts could contribute to a recession:
BARTIROMO: Secretary, as we wrap up, I have got to point out this Lindsey report. The Lindsay Group came out with a report, can DOGE induce a recession?
As we see so many government jobs getting cut right now, do you worry that that cuts into the job creation numbers and the overall macro story, as you also recently reached — the country has reached its statutory debt limit, prompting the Treasury to implement extraordinary measures to prevent default? You’re dealing with so much, and DOGE is cutting jobs.
Does that cut into growth?
BESSENT: Look, Maria, I think that, if we have a bloated government and if that gets cut down, then government spending will go down. Many times on your show in the past 10 months, I have talked about reprivatizing the economy.
And that’s what we’re going to have to do. We have seen what I would call this orgiastic government spending with the past administration. We’re running 6.7, 6.9 percent deficit to GDP, which we never had when we’re not in a recession, not in a war. And we’re going to bring that down.
And so as the government employee employment comes down, private sector will not be crowded out anymore. All the jobs created by the Biden, not all, but the 70, 85 percent of the jobs created by the Biden administration were government jobs, government-adjacent. They crowded out the private sector. The government interest rates spiked.
BARTIROMO: Sure.
BESSENT: I would just point out, interest rates are down five weeks in a row on the 10-year since President Trump took office.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BESSENT: And mortgage rates are down. We’re going to get that down.
I was sitting next to — I notice you’re going to have Governor Youngkin later. I was sitting next to him on Friday. And I said: “Governor, how do you feel about these layoffs in Northern Virginia?”
BARTIROMO: Right.
BESSENT: And he said: “Scott, I think there’s — I think he told me there’s something like 350,000 private sector job openings in Virginia.”
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BESSENT: The State of Virginia has a portal, so there are plenty of private sector jobs, and those are good-paying, and we’re going to reprivatize this economy, like President Trump promised.
BARTIROMO: Great point all around.
Secretary, it’s wonderful to have you this morning. Thank you, sir. We will be watching your work.
BESSENT: Good to see you.
Watch above via Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures.
