Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday morning that one of the Trump administration’s main priorities is ensuring that the federal government stops “spending the American people’s money on garbage.”
Vance answered questions from former White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp on stage at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., and detailed the Trump administration’s focus on cutting government waste and allowing the U.S. economy to flourish. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project has scrutinized multiple government agencies, suggesting spending cuts or even total agency overhauls.
“We have got to stop spending the American people’s money on garbage,” Vance said. “Every dollar that we take in and spend, you have to pay for either through taxes or through inflation, and if we spend the American people’s money more wisely, if we stop taxing and spending the American people to death, that’s also going to bring relief to all of the pricing pressures that are out there.”
“We’re going to make it affordable to live in this country again. That’s our mandate, that’s our goal,” he added.
Vance told attendees that “the whole goal of President Trump’s agenda” — from immigration and border policies to DOGE gutting government waste — centers on “safety and prosperity.” The vice president said that to accomplish that “common sense” goal, the United States must focus on ramping up energy production.
“Why is that so important? Because, look, we all know grocery prices got too high under Joe Biden’s leadership. Well, one of the main drivers of groceries is energy,” Vance said. “Because if the farmers are paying more for energy, then we’re all paying more for what the farmers grow. And if the truck drivers, who are delivering the groceries, are paying more for fuel, then we’re all paying more for what the truck drivers are delivering to the grocery store.”
“If we unleash American energy, that will do more than anything to drive down the cost for the American people,” he added.
Vance reiterated a point he has made during previous interviews, saying that lowering prices for the American people is “going to take some time” as the Trump administration seeks “to fix what Joe Biden broke over four years.”
