Hands up whoever didn’t see this coming.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
After just four months on the job, “special government employee” Elon Musk is out from his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), or what some have called the Department of Getting Even, so focused it was on decreasing or outright dismantling anything perceived not of President Donald Trump’s making.
Last fall after Trump survived an assassination attempt, Musk would spend well over a quarter-billion dollars (that’s “billion” with a “B”) to boost Trump’s election chances. Not so surprisingly, that simultaneously turned the man behind Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly Twitter) into the candidate’s and now-president- again’s best friend and confidant.
But the world’s richest man’s exit from Trump’s inner circle was about as predictable as the Maple Leafs losing in the NHL playoffs. And actually, not just predictable; it was inevitable, as two hardcore narcissists obviously cannot amicably coexist. Honestly? I’m surprised Musk’s orbit of the Oval Office lasted even this long.
I repeatedly was amazed when Musk was in practically every photo taken of the president, whether in the office, on Air Force One (another interesting debacle), on stage, in meetings, or on the White House lawn hawking overpriced electric cars.
But no more. No more headline-grabbing actions from Musk like jumping around on stage behind Trump at a campaign rally like an excited toddler; no more directives for federal workers to weekly detail five things they individually accomplished; no more Tesla sales pitches; no more wielding a chainsaw above his head to signify DOGE cuts; and no more “Sieg Heil” arm gestures – thrown twice by Musk – at an unforgettable-for-all-thewrong- reasons post-inauguration presidential event.
Then, once Musk and his “DOGE bros” were put in place, complete with plentiful “sleeping on office floors” stories to emphasize just how diligent and dedicated they all were to eradicating government waste, they fell well short of the $2 trillion in annual savings for the country that campaign-era Musk promised to The Donald and American citizens.
Instead, the tally DOGE “saved” for the country so far (but at what cost?) was estimated by Musk himself to be about $150-$175 million. No small amount to most of us, of course, but a literal drop in the federal budget bucket and hardly worth the long-lasting upheaval created.
Among the federal bureaucracies hardest hit was USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Its mission statement reads: “On behalf of the American people, we promote and demonstrate democratic values abroad, and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. In support of America’s foreign policy, [USAID] leads the U.S. Government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.”
Sounds pretty positive to me. Apparently, however, not to Trump or Musk, not to their DOGE disciples, and not to far too many MAGA minions who were all in on defunding these efforts. What a waste of good American dollars, they all said, leading to USAID’s budget suddenly being cut from approximately $42 billion in 2023 (latest fiscal year recorded) to about $8.4 billion. Who among us, what company, could practically overnight absorb a similar 80-percent cut in income?
Brooke Nichols, a Boston University mathematician and infectious disease specialist, estimated up to 300,000 people worldwide have already died from diseases like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, along with famine and starvation due to USAID cutbacks, with two-thirds of those deaths representing children. Now, I have no way of confirming or denying these numbers, but if even half true, it seems like a shameful legacy for DOGE, along with Musk and Trump.
But USAID was far from alone. Essentially, Musk and his ilk bulldozed their way through the federal government, shutting down entire agencies while issuing mass layoffs and outright firings of workers at the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control, at Human and Health Services, theSocial Security Administration, Department of Education, General Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and theUnited States Department of Agriculture, among other smaller departments. And now Medicare and Medicaid appear at risk of significant cutbacks, too.
Sounds like most of the federal government to me. Tell me that part about Make America Great Again?
Oh, and I almost forgot, Musk’s business interests, predominantly led by the aforementioned Tesla and SpaceX, have benefited over the last 20-plus years from approximately $38 billion (again, with a “B”) in federal government largesse through contracts, loans, subsidies, tax credits, etc., including $6.3 billion last year alone.
So, I suspect that represents about 38 billion-plus reasons this will not be the last we hear of “The DOGE Father.”