The problem with the actions of Trump, Musk, and DOGE, is that unfortunately they seem to be increasing waste, fraud, and abuse.
To start with, the idea that their cuts will fix government overspending is incorrect. Most federal spending is for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the military, and interest on the national debt. DOGE has been focusing on agencies that account for a small fraction of spending, but a huge chunk of medical and other scientific research, health and safety protection, higher education, management of public resources, and all the functions that support an advanced economy.
Next, while saving millions with deep cuts to small agencies, the administration is proposing to lose trillions with giant tax cuts. We will end up with an even bigger budget deficit, like what we got during the first Trump term – only worse.
Finally, the thoughtless way the cuts are being made is the opposite of good management.
They are cutting things because they are easy to cut rather than a low priority for spending. For instance, they are firing new hires, no matter how productive, just because they have fewer job protections. They are intentionally doing things so quickly that no one – including them – has time to understand which things are being cut. We had a system for Congress and the public to review and object to regulations and grants, which they are destroying by shutting government web pages and bypassing legal processes. Posts on X with false accusations like “$50 million for Gaza condoms” is not what government accountability looks like.
Efficiency has plummeted under DOGE. Sometimes DOGE has stopped work without saving money, because the money has already been spent, or because they are putting workers on administrative leave and continuing to pay them. In embarrassing cases, they have had to rehire essential workers they fired, like the people working on avian flu. Thousands of government workers are force to spend their time trying to interpret vague ultimatums from Elon Musk rather carrying out their mission.
I wish the public could sit in on a scientific funding panel. Out of a stack of sixty proposals, the panel may choose only a dozen. In the more competitive panels, maybe only six. Each proposal was written by one or more PhDs. Each of those PhDs was the nerdiest kid in his/her high school class, who then spent another decade in school learning their field, and then spent weeks or months developing the proposal. The panel consists of other experts in the field who read reviews (by other experts) of the proposals, debate the merits of each, and fund the ones that the majority think are best.
That’s what the Trumpists call the deep state. They are working to replace it with a system where funding is determined by loyalty to the president. Like any large organization, the government has some waste, fraud, and abuse, but it has been limited by tools that Trump is trying to dismantle. If he succeeds, we will live be living in a mafia state where waste, fraud, and abuse are not the exception, but the norm.