A Dead Meme and a Dying Bureaucracy: How DOGE is Killing our Government
- Ahsan Suhail
- Mar 18
- 3 min read
The South African-born, chainsaw-wielding, market-manipulating technocrat Elon Musk has recently made himself the darling of the burgeoning alt-right movement in the United States. Seeking to elevate his national profile at CPAC, he notably proclaimed, “I am become meme.” For any other administration in history, the immature conduct of such a high-ranking official would result in wide criticism from the public; however, for the current administration, it was just a relatively uneventful Thursday.
Amidst his aggressive displays of unfunny millennial humor, Elon Musk has committed himself to making significant strides in cutting down government waste with his chainsaw-waving antics. Though reducing government spending is broadly popular, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) certainly has ulterior motives with its planning. Moreover, it is likely less-than-sufficient in addressing the problems it was supposedly created to solve in the first place.
In order to discuss the merits of DOGE as a government agency, it is necessary to delve into the history of its inception. Elon Musk has had a notably inconsistent relationship with Trump. During the latter’s first term in office, the former attended a couple of advisory meetings before promptly resigning following the president’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords. However, ever since, Musk has become increasingly associated with Trump. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his reactionary rhetoric and contrarian public image resonated with the strongman politician, and they both reignited a relationship that is presently characterized by mutual bootlicking. Now, with presidential support for his government agency, Elon Musk is become bureaucrat: destroyer of government.
A concerning indicator for the future, the mass layoffs of workers from previous administrations only solidify Trump’s grip over the government. With the Supreme Court in his pocket, Congress engaging in “No, he loves me more” bickering matches, and a demoralized opposition, nothing is stopping the full formation of a cult of personality. Laying waste to any potential dissidents in the name of ridding government waste, Trump has actively encouraged Musk to act on his own volition, essentially casting the latter as his right-hand man.
For the sake of fulfilling his goals of reducing government overreach, Musk has engaged in a prominent mass firing campaign. Health workers, military advisors, park rangers, and even Smokey the Bear - it seems that no one is safe from the power trip of Elon Musk. Justifying his efforts, Musk has cited questionable data pointing to a supposed total saving of $115 billion; however, the reality is far less exciting. With complicated factors to consider such as overlapping contracts and clerical errors, this estimate is likely flying past the upper bounds of mathematical reason. Without a doubt, Musk is aware of the numbers not adding up, yet he will likely keep propagating this faulty statistic to maintain some sense of public credibility. This is the biggest problem with DOGE: prioritizing their public image over making genuine progress in combating wasteful spending.
Though the effort to reduce wasteful spending is admirable, it is unwise to believe that government greed can be prevented by a man synonymous with corporate greed. On one hand, the Trump cabinet has yearned to improve the lives of everyday Americans by reducing inflation via these budgetary cuts. On the other hand, the president continues to fund a genocide in Palestine out of his misplaced desire for approval from Netanyahu. An administration full of contradictions, the presence of an avaricious billionaire in a department dedicated to limiting unnecessary spending epitomizes this hypocrisy.
Photo Credit:
[Header]: BBC
[Embedded 1]: ANDREW HARNIK | GETTY IMAGES
[Embedded 2]: DEAN MOSES
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