> The list of absurd spending makes me super angry; I never voted for climate change grants for Sri Lanka, or funding operas in Columbia or research in to Vietnamese bathhouses, or supplying birth control to the Taliban

I suggest you save your anger for real problems you actually understand. It will save you a lot of stress.

All of the “absurd” spending DOGE cites may seem like a lot of money, but it’s a tiny amount in comparison to the overall budget, and remarkably skewed toward specific, hot button issues like climate change, DEI, etc. Where are the cuts to the $852B military budget, which has been shown for decades as being insanely wasteful? Why isn’t DOGE investigating ways to cut down our $952B in interest payments due in 2025?

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to prepare plans to make drastic budget cuts over the next five years, with an exception for border security, according to a new memo obtained by CNN.

The memo, dated Tuesday, calls for military leaders to provide a proposal for eight percent in budget cuts each year for the next five years."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/19/politics/hegseth-military-maj...

That’s great to see. If executed, that’s ~$68B per year.