The way Democrats are protesting and hand-wringing over DOGE's spending cuts, one would think no Democrat has ever tried to cut spending in the same way.

One would be totally wrong: White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt used clips of statements from former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to show that President Donald Trump isn't alone in his desire to cut federal spending.

"To all of the Democrats who are planning to protest this week, here’s an explanation on DOGE, from your party’s own beloved leaders!: Leavitt posted to X with a video of the two former presidents.

To all of the Democrats who are planning to protest this week, here’s an explanation on DOGE, from your party’s own beloved leaders! https://t.co/D2rPvR2ijl

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 16, 2025

"Line by line"

In the video, Obama said his administration would be going through the federal budget "page by page, line by line" to eliminate wasteful programs and spending.

It wasn't clear when the clips of Biden originated, but he was clearly on board at the time with the idea of cutting waste, fraud and abuse (at least he said he was).

Here's the truth of the matter though: a Manhattan Institute analysis of spending during Obama's 8 years in the White House showed that he approved $5 trillion in new spending and drove the deficit up $4.6 trillion.

That's the opposite of DOGE, which has already cut $55 billion and plans up to $2 trillion in total cuts.

Under Biden, the deficit went up another $4.7 trillion.

Is Trump any better?

Now here's where it gets a little sticky: the deficit went up more than $6 trillion during Trump's first term.

So he hasn't always put his money where his mouth is, and we will see if he's actually able to tamp down the deficit any during his second term.

So far, his attempts have been more daring and gone farther than any other modern president--particularly in cutting jobs in the huge federal bureaucracy.

That's what has the Democrats in a tizzy, filing lawsuits left and right and calling Trump's efforts a "constitutional crisis."

As if the Constitution's authors and signers would be down with $36 trillion in debt with no end in sight.