If you read the headlines and all the tirades against “chainsaw” Elon Musk and his callow musketeers in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), you would think the federal government has been placed on a starvation diet, that slimming the federal Leviathan was underway, that balanced or surplus budgets were on the horizon, and that the more than $36 trillion of national debt with annual carrying costs of $1 trillion and climbing would soon disappear.

But has the United States turned a page? Is the era of big government over, as President Bill Clinton proclaimed in his 1996 State of the Union Address? Or have we seen this rodeo before?

During President Donald Trump’s first term, the national debt rose by nearly $7.8 trillion. Remember the tens of millions of COVID checks he signed while the federal government was effectively insolvent? President Ronald Reagan was elected to downsize government. Annual budget deficits and the national debt, however, tripled by the end of Reagan’s second term. Office of Management and Budget Director David Stockman was taken to the woodshed for volunteering the truth about President Reagan’s purported budget cuts:

“There was less there than met the eye … Let’s say that you and I walked outside and I waved a wand and said, I’ve just lowered the temperature from 110 to 78. Would you believe me? What this was was a cut from an artificial [Congressional Budget Office] base. That’s why it looked so big. But it wasn’t.”

We may have more of the same with Trump’s signing this month of a $1.6 trillion continuing resolution to keep the federal government open and funded through September. Circumstantial evidence suggested the CR was a victory for budget hawks. It was supported by Trump. It was supported by every Republican member of the House of Representatives and Senate but for Congressman Thomas Massie. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was roundly condemned by his Democratic colleagues for assembling 10 Senate Democrats to support the CR. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voiced fury over Schumer’s capitulation.

The CR under a microscope looks different. Congressman Massie elaborated, “This is not Trump’s agenda; this is Biden’s spending agenda. This is a CR that extends Biden spending levels.” A 2023 law requires a 1% spending cut to pass a CR, Massie said, but House Speaker Mike Johnson evaded the mandate by classifying this alleged CR as a budget omnibus through September. Massie complained, “He’s violating at least the spirit of the law and maybe even the letter of the law by ignoring the 1% cut,” deploring that the waste in spending exposed by DOGE is effectively signed off on through September.

You would think that President Trump would be lavishing praise on Massie and that Musk would be contributing handsomely to his reelection campaign for his fiscal frugality. But instead, Trump excoriated Massie for his parsimony, declaring that the congressman “SHOULD BE PRIMARIED” and pledging to “lead the charge against him.” Trump complained that Massie “is an automatic ‘NO’ vote on just about everything”

Beyond the CR, the prospects of slashing federal government spending and budget recklessness are bleak. For Fiscal Year 2025, federal spending will probably exceed a staggering $7 trillion. The budget deficit is likely to reach $1.9 trillion. The national debt will inch up toward $40 trillion. The lion’s share of discretionary spending will be swallowed by the Pentagon despite the absence of any existential threat. The Defense Department has never passed an audit. It spent $2.3 trillion on a fool’s errand in Afghanistan.

When the CR expires at the end of September, don’t expect President Trump to champion a crash diet to downsize the government. You can’t be against Thomas Massie and for a balanced budget and repayment of the more than $36 trillion national debt.

Are we watching political theater? Why were Republicans jubilant over a CR that was 95% Biden’s handiwork? Why did Democrats assail Schumer for supporting a CR that reflected only 5% of Trump’s spending agenda? Who can solve this Rubik’s Cube?

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.