Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer let the quiet part out loud this week: Democrats fully intend to reverse most of the spending cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — and then spend even more.
During a discussion at the Center for American Progress, Schumer was asked what Democrats could do to bring funding back to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after DOGE stepped in and made reductions. His answer was refreshingly blunt.
“If you look at the budget actually, we’re working on right now — and we’ll have the T-HUD budget, you know, transportation and HUD budget, we restore most of the cuts and even go higher than previous years on many of the programs that DOGE slashed,” Schumer said.
In other words: cuts bad, spending good — especially when it’s not their money.
According to Fox News, lawmakers have not yet released the final text of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill for fiscal year 2026. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee has already proposed increasing funding by $5 billion over 2025 levels. So much for “fiscal responsibility.”
This comes after HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced in February that the department had launched a DOGE task force that identified $260 million in savings. That task force, according to a HUD press release, is made up of HUD employees tasked with examining how to maximize the agency’s budget and ensure programs, processes, and personnel are actually working together to fulfill the department’s mission. Radical concept.
DOGE’s goal has been straightforward: cut waste, reduce unnecessary spending, and stop Washington from lighting taxpayer dollars on fire. Democrats, on the other hand, appear determined to reverse those efforts and return to business as usual — bigger budgets, fewer questions, and zero accountability.
Schumer’s comments make one thing clear: DOGE’s success is exactly why Democrats want to undo it. Saving hundreds of millions doesn’t fit well with a party that believes every problem can be solved with another spending bill.
Still, the fact that DOGE was able to identify $260 million in savings at HUD alone proves the concept works. And as more Americans see just how quickly Democrats rush to restore wasteful spending, the contrast couldn’t be clearer.
With strong leadership focused on efficiency, transparency, and respect for taxpayers, efforts like DOGE are shining a much-needed light on Washington’s bad habits — and that’s a positive step toward a government that finally works for the people who pay the bills.
