This week, Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, co-chiefs of President-elect Trump's incoming Department of Government Efficiency, laid out their "DOGE Plan" this week to tackle spending cuts when the new administration takes effect—and among the groups in their sights is Planned Parenthood, one of multiple "progressive" groups they say take in nearly $300 million annually from the government, per CBS News. Then, on Friday, upward of 100 Republican lawmakers signed off on a letter to the US Government Accountability Office requesting a probe be launched into the federal funding received by health centers like Planned Parenthood—i.e., health clinics that also offer abortions, per the Hill.
"It is our hope that this report will provide greater insight as Congress considers funding levels and provides increased transparency and openness for our constituencies and the general public," the letter noted. The Hill notes that more than 80 members of Congress signed it, while upward of 30 Republican senators did the same. Among that group: the three top GOP leaders, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
So how does Planned Parenthood feel about this upcoming confrontation, especially the cuts promised by the DOGE team? "Unqualified fanboys and agents of chaos" is how the nonprofit's president and CEO, Alexis McGill Johnson, puts it, per Business Insider. "Musk and Ramaswamy are making clear how they intend to use their power: denying people care and wreaking havoc on our public health system, of which Planned Parenthood is an integral part—all in the name of supposed 'government efficiency,'" she notes.
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Business Insider reports that, since Trump's reelection victory, Planned Parenthood has seen a 1,200% spike in vasectomy appointments at its clinics, as well as a 760% jump in IUD appointments. Online reproductive-care firm Wisp, meanwhile, says it has seen a 1,000% increase in emergency contraception sales. "What Musk and Ramaswamy call 'federal overspending' provides critical and necessary sexual and reproductive health care to thousands of people every day—care that will disappear if they get their way," McGill Johnson says. (More Planned Parenthood stories.)
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