DOGE could target SEC, CFPB ¨C are both agencies needed?

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to help President-elect Trump's administration cut wasteful federal spending could look at streamlining regulatory agencies covering the financial sector.

DOGE announced on Thursday that it is opening the process of applying to workers interested in taking on the cost-cutting push, which Musk said will be a "revolution" for reining in waste and fraud in the federal government, though there remains uncertainty over how much cost-cutting it will be able to accomplish. DOGE is accepting applications via direct messages on X and on Friday allowed all X users to send DMs after previously requiring a $7 a month premium X subscription.

The cost-cutting endeavor could take a look at regulatory agencies that have overlapping jurisdictions as a means of boosting efficiency and controlling costs, as Gary Cohn, former director of the National Economic Council, said on FOX Business Network's "The Claman Countdown" that two financial regulators could face scrutiny.

"We have a lot of costs in the U.S. government in a lot of different regulatory agencies, regulatory agencies that potentially overlap," Cohn said. "The [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] and the [Securities and Exchange Commission], they both are regulators for retail investors." 

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"Do we need two of them? I'm not saying we don't, but these are questions that should be asked because at the end of the day, both of those agencies are very expensive and you have to think about what it costs us as a federal government, or its taxpayers, to have those agencies," Cohn explained. "How are those agencies run? How effectively are they run?"

The CFPB has an annual budget of about $800 million and is financed by earnings transferred from the Federal Reserve System. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a $2.4 billion budget, which is structured to be deficit-neutral with its appropriated funds offset by transaction fees.

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Cohn said that improving the technological capabilities of government agencies will make them work more efficiently and result in cost savings.

"You're going to get the money by making these organizations more efficient. You're going to invest in technology, I don't think the government has invested in a lot of technology, I don't think there's a lot of AI in the government, I don't think there's a lot of high-end computing in the government," Cohn said.

"We're going to use modern technology to make the government more efficient and cut down on the administrative costs," he added. "Administrative cost is huge in the U.S. government."

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Host Liz Claman noted that the incoming Trump administration is planning to use funds saved from cutting spending on things like electric vehicle subsidies to help offset lost tax revenue from planned tax cuts, such as the extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's lower rates and broader standard deduction. 

Cohn said that proposals such as ending taxes on tips, overtime and high-income earners' Social Security benefits will be looked at in light of their revenue impact as tax reform plans come together.

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"When you look at the tax code, all of these items that were talked about on the campaign trail, they'll be looked at – what do we do with tips, what do we do with overtime, what do we do with Social Security? If we do that, if we change that, how do we pay for the government? There are gives and takes in all of these conversations," he said.