It took weeks of vote-wrangling for congressional Republicans to near final passage of $9 billion in DOGE-inspired cuts, or only 0.10% of the $7 trillion budget.

The arduous saga, filled with centrist complaints and some last-minute deal-cutting, doesn’t bode well for conservatives who have their sights on far more ambitious efforts under President Donald Trump, who has promised to erase the $2 trillion a year deficit.