Michigan’s Budget Just Got a Financial Audit from YouTuber Caleb Hammer

If you’ve ever found yourself deep in a Caleb Hammer binge on YouTube or TikTok (no judgment here), you know his show Financial Audit isn’t for people who love to blow their money without accountability.

Caleb is known for sitting down with people struggling financially, tearing into their spending habits, and somehow leaving them (and his 24 million subscribers) hopefully a little more financially wiser by the end.

But this time, Caleb isn’t confronting a broke 20-something with six maxed-out credit cards, he’s taking on an entire state government. And not just any state, it’s his home state of Michigan.

Caleb released a new episode this week where he sits down with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for a one-on-one episode of his show, Financial Audit.

The episode kicks off with Whitmer joking, “I appreciate all the things you do right now. We’ll see in 60 minutes.”

Caleb dives right in , addressing Michigan’s $6.9 billion in outstanding debt. Which, he points out is actually down $300 million from last year, something both he and Whitmer agree is a win. Whitmer then says she’s proud to have passed a balanced budget and paid down debt during her tenure.

They also tackled some touchier topics, like government assistance. Caleb noted that Michigan spends about $35.57 billion, or 44% of its total budget, on Health and Human Services, which includes food assistance programs like SNAP.

“I want people to have assistance who need assistance,” Hammer said, “but I’ve had so many people come on my show who said they won’t work more hours because they want to stay on government benefits.”

Whitmer countered, calling those cases “rare” and emphasizing that the state’s goal is to incentivize work, not dependency: “We want people to be gainfully employed and not reliant on state funding. But we recognize that there are a lot of people who are struggling to just take care of their daily needs.”

The episode, which also touches on divisiveness, extremism, and even Whitmer’s 2020 kidnapping plot, is a surprisingly balanced conversation both equal parts fiery and thoughtful.

It’s kind of crazy to think that the man who usually critiques people’s DoorDash habits just audited Michigan’s $80 billion budget.

Love him or hate him, Caleb Hammer has never been one to shy away from a tough conversation. And now, it looks like Michigan’s budget just had its moment in the hot seat.