OPINION: The Dodginess of DOGE

Unless you do nothing else, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of the wild, crazy and harmful things that Elon Musk and Donald Trump have been saying and doing since their inauguration.

Dutch cartoonist Tom Janssen satirized one by showing Trump and Vladimir Putin wielding knives and forks as they prepared to dig into a turkey labeled “Ukraine.”  

That bit of black humor packs such a punch. Poor Ukraine, which Trump, with his usual aversion to truth, is now blaming for Putin’s invasion in the same way that some self-proclaimed moralists say rape victims asked for it.  A sucker for any positive attention from the Russian dictator, he appears eager to deal the Kremlin a winning hand in any “peace” negotiations.

Back in the States, an old friend summed up the Mump administration in two words: “belligerent incompetence.” Really, those in it can’t even agree on who’s running its marquee project, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. (A more forthright name would be “Department of Decimating Government Extensively,” or “DODGE.”)

On Monday, the U.S. Office of Administration’s director told a federal court that Musk is just a senior Trump advisor, with no authority to make government decisions and who doesn’t even work for DOD(G)E.  On Wednesday, Trump contradicted him, saying that per his executive order, Musk heads DOD(G)E.

That smells like incompetence. Or skullduggery. Or both.

Whoever the decider is, someone at DOD(G)E must have realized it went too far with its firing spree. Now it’s trying to rehire some of the workers it pink-slipped, including essential ones at the National Nuclear Security Administration as well as U.S. Department of Agriculture officials tasked with responding to the bird flu epidemic.

Whew! Those firings, combined with the new anti-vaxxer health secretary, were enough to make anyone further question the GOP’s pro-life credentials, at least for the already-born. (The party has already shown that it doesn’t mind forcing someone to go through a potentially deadly pregnancy.)

At best, though, Musk and Trump are showing depraved indifference toward the millions of Americans their broligarchy has less and less need for.  

With all their money and power, this duo isn’t going to suffer from plagues, wars, inflation or recession. And while Musk wrings his hands over what he calls a population collapse in the U.S., he also heaps praise on job cuts and artificial intelligence.

Polls taken this month by Emerson College, Reuters/Ipsos and YouGov showed approval ratings ranging from 39% to 43% for Musk and 39% to 42% for what may or may not be his department.

That’s higher than either deserves but not as high as the Mump administration would like. Perhaps in response, Musk and Trump have dangled the possibility of giving each taxpayer a bit of the money DOD(G)E purportedly will save the government. 

So, $5,000 checks – or probably much less – in exchange for crippling or eliminating programs and services that our country relies on? That’s kind of like the sleight of hand Trump tried to pull by forgoing his $400,000 presidential salary while using his presidency to amass millions from foreign governments and bill us taxpayers for his numerous trips to his golf courses and, more recently, the Super Bowl and Daytona 500.

As for Musk, the nearly half a trillionaire now controls the fate of agencies with continuing investigations, pending complaints or enforcement actions into his companies. 

GOP members of Congress, who hold majorities in both chambers and therefore the power of the purse, have largely ignored all this. Cowering at the prospect of angering Musk and Trump, they’ve allowed themselves to be reduced to begging for funds that affect their voters.

As Shakespeare might have said, “What fools these lawmakers be.” Do they really think that abdicating will get them seats at the table where Trump, Musk and maybe some of their fellow broligarchs and Project 2025ers carve up our country?

Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.

Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.

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