In a bold move to streamline the federal enterprise, President Donald J. Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are implementing strategies typically seen in the corporate world.
However, their efforts are met with vehement opposition from Democrats, who are expressing their discontent in no uncertain terms.
According to The Daily Signal, House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York voiced his criticism on the Capitol steps, stating, Donald Trump has turned the White House into The Elon Musk Show. Its a malignant clown show. Nothing that is being donenothingis actually making life better for the American people. They are trying to take affirmative steps to make life worse.
Interestingly, some Democrats are resorting to xenophobic attacks against Musk, who was born in South Africa and became a U.S. citizen in 2002. He also holds Canadian citizenship through his mother. ABCs The View co-host Joy Behar labeled Musk as a foreign agent; an enemy of the United States.
Similarly, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, questioned Musk's loyalty, asking, Which country is he loyal to? South Africa, Canada, or the United States? And hes only been a citizen, Ill say again, 22 years.
The anti-Musk sentiment has escalated to the point of vandalism and violence at Tesla dealerships in California, Colorado, and Oregon. Despite this hostility, a recent Harvard-Harris survey of 2,443 registered voters revealed that 76% of respondents support undertaking a full-scale effort to find and eliminate fraud and waste in government expenditures.
Musk, speaking at Trumps first Cabinet meeting, described DOGE's work as fixing the government's outdated computer systems. Many of these systems are extremely old. They dont communicate. There are a lot of mistakes in the systems. The software doesnt work, he said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy added, The FAA is using floppy disks to manage some of their systems. This is ancient technology. It costs $0.90 of every dollar to maintain these really old systems.
Rather than resisting these changes, Democrats should acknowledge the inefficiencies in the federal system. Both free-spending liberals and free-market conservatives would benefit from modernizing Washington's outdated computer systems.
Democrats could gain credibility by supporting DOGE's efforts to eliminate federal excesses and deficiencies. For instance, the National Institutes of Health is currently battling Alzheimers disease. DOGE recently reduced the staff of the Center for Alzheimers and Related Dementia by 10%, including lead researcher Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen.
While the center should be able to survive a 10% staff reduction, Democrats, and many Republicans, argue that accelerating treatments and cures for this crippling mental ailment would benefit Alzheimers victims and reduce public health expenditures overall.
If Democrats were to acknowledge the wasteful spending uncovered by Trump, Musk, and DOGE, they could make a stronger case for preserving programs that achieve meaningful results.
For example, they could agree that it was unwise to spend USAID money on sending Ukrainian designers and models to Paris Fashion Week or the $2 million wasted on Moroccan pottery classes. By recovering these funds, they could argue for properly staffing the Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementia to advance the fight against Alzheimer's.
In the face of federal dysfunction, Democrats would be wise to recognize the value in Trump, Musk, and DOGE's efforts to uncover wasteful spending. By doing so, they could champion the aspects of Washington that are functioning effectively and advocate for the preservation of programs that truly benefit the American people.
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