Because DOGE is slashing its way through so many government agencies in a non-transparent way, and is sometimes forced to reverse course due to unacceptable levels of damage (and this is a very harm-tolerant bunch), trying to get a handle on what is happening is a bit of a blind-men-trying-to-describe-an-elephant level exercise.
Media coverage has tended to focus on the big controversies, such as the court battles to rein in DOGE, human interest aspects (unfair and arbitrary firings, particularly of employees with important skills and good reviews; damage to programs that are popular or clearly valuable), and sizable haircuts to many of DOGE’s claims about how much it is saving. Precisely because DOGE so far has successfully blitzed any opposition (admittedly Democratic abject incompetence and laziness are big aids), its many many victims and probable future casualties look shell shocked and disorganized. But as we’ll show below, that may be changing too, and in a not pretty way.
But others are starting to echo our view from the get-go: the only way DOGE makes sense is as the major element of an engineering of a Russia-in-the-1990s level collapse. That enabled well placed people to turn modest amounts of money into billions by buying assets at distressed prices (see Len Blavatnik as the poster child). See the embedded article at the end, Death of a Nation, for how that turned out. Note that Trump is advocating another rollback to the Gilded Age, that of subsistence farming as a mainstream way of life. If we are lucky, that might become his “Let them eat cake” moment.1
But with so many squillionaires already at the Trump feeding trough, it’s unlikely that those of lesser means, even the well-connected, will make out spectacularly, but they can hope to be comfortable and perhaps even a bit flush.
At the end, we’ll discuss the evidence of unprecedented levels of corruption in DOGE. If you are in TL;DR mode, scroll to the last section and watch the tweet of a 25 minute presentation (which plays well at 1.5X) by Senator Chris Murphy. Since DOGE is still successfully creating what Lambert called an overly dynamic situation, we’ll limit ourselves to current themes.
DOGE Does Damage
Fresh sightings on the DOGE induced harm front include the VA, where further ravaging is expected. From the Washington Post in Chaos at the V.A.: Inside the DOGE Cuts Disrupting the Veterans Agency:
Clinical trials have been delayed, contracts canceled and support staff fired. With deeper cuts coming, some are warning of potential harms to veterans…
They have disrupted studies involving patients awaiting experimental treatments, forced some facilities to fire support staff and created uncertainty amid the mass cancellation, and partial reinstatement, of hundreds of contracts targeted by Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency…
Project 2025, the conservative governing blueprint assembled by Trump allies, said the V.A. had transformed into “one of the most respected U.S. agencies.”
The V.A. is also one of the most politically sensitive departments in the government, serving a constituency courted heavily by Republicans, including Mr. Trump, who has made overhauling the agency a talking point since his 2016 campaign.
Now, with V.A. Secretary Doug Collins vowing a much deeper round of cuts — eliminating some 80,000 jobs and reviewing tens of thousands of contracts — some Republican lawmakers are warning that the tumultuous process risks undoing recent progress.
From Reuters, DOGE job cuts bring pain to Trump heartland:
Jennifer Piggott proudly hung a red-and-blue Trump campaign flag outside her one-story home during the November election race…
Piggott is among more than 125 people dismissed in February from the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service in Parkersburg, West Virginia, unsettling a community that voted overwhelmingly for Republican President Donald Trump.
“Nobody that I’ve talked to understood the devastation that having this administration in office would do to our lives,” Piggott, 47, told Reuters in an interview, saying she would not have supported Trump if she knew then what she knows now….
In interviews with three dozen workers, business owners and politicians in Parkersburg, which sits at the convergence of two rivers including the mighty Ohio, nearly all said Trump’s focus on cutting government spending was a worthy goal. But most said they knew BFS employees to be hard-working and didn’t see them as the right target if the aim was to eliminate waste.
Scot Heckert, a Republican who represents parts of Parkersburg in the West Virginia state legislature, said he was worried that layoffs at BFS, which employs about 2,200 workers in Parkersburg, would “devastate” the local economy because the workers earned higher-than-average salaries, and because of the looming prospect of another round of cuts.
From the Washington Post, DOGE’s $1 spending card limit touches everything from military research to trash pickup describes that these transactions were already reasonably to well monitored:
As a result of the move, government scientists who study food safety say they are running out of cleaning fluid for their labs; federal aviation workers report cuts to travel for urgent work; and contractors who help identify U.S. soldiers killed in combat were told to pause their efforts, said three forensic genealogists who, like other workers interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution…
The card purchases accounted for roughly $40 billion in the last budget year, according to the General Services Administration, which oversees the program. And while independent watchdogs such as the Government Accountability Office have for years scrutinized government card purchases — and uncovered transactions that violated strict rules or lacked documentation — the challenges amount to a fraction of overall spending.
And in the “stupidly predictable” category, from Gizmodo, DOGE Is Replacing Fired Workers With a Chatbot:
According to Wired, DOGE has given about 1,500 employees at the US General Services Administration, the agency that manages federal real estate and oversees most government contracts, access to a proprietary chatbot called GSAi. That’s right, the agency that has already lost hundreds of employees to termination or resignation, including basically everyone working at its extremely efficient tech hub known as 18F, is getting ChatGPT in a suit that matches federal dress code to make up for all that lost labor.
GSAi, which was apparently rushed out the door by DOGE with the intention of deploying it across the entire agency, is supposed to support staff with “general” tasks. In an internal memo obtained by Wired, GSA employees were told that when it comes to what they can use GSAi for, “the options are endless.” It then offered a list of tasks that, frankly, ended very quickly: “You can: draft emails, create talking points, summarize text, write code.”
Those chatbots had not been deployed on account of being “janky,” per one employee. So, of course, DOGE just went ahead and rolled that thing out to people. Also, it seemed like the intention of those projects were to build a tool that could help facilitate employee work, not replace thousands of staff who were abruptly cut. In the case of the GSA, it’s likely that at least some of the people let go are the very ones who were building the GSAi tool that is now being deployed in their wake. Something tells me their skills are more useful than a chatbot that can draft an email.
Administration Infighting Over DOGE Authority Grab
Trump has backed off a bit from his full-throated support for Musk’s conduct. Given how Trump regards being inconsistent as a useful tactic, it’s not clear that a Musk versus Rubio row that was leaked to the press, and Trump mildly siding with Cabinet members over Musk will have any impact. But it’s worth watching if there are more frontal or rearguard actions from inside the Administration to take Musk down a peg or two. From The Hill in Trump shifts tone on Musk as tensions rise with Cabinet:
Trump’s shift in tone emerged this week when he stressed that his Cabinet secretaries take the lead on staffing choices, insisting that cuts be made with a “scalpel” instead of a “hatchet.”
That came after a contentious meeting Thursday attended by Trump, Cabinet secretaries and Musk at the White House, which was followed by an explosive report in the New York Times about clashes between Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump blew off a question about friction between Musk and Rubio when a reporter asked him to weigh in from the Oval Office after the Times report published.
But his response earlier this week stressing that his Cabinet secretaries take the lead in making what he deems appropriate cuts to federal agencies signals some potential pushback from his secretaries as to how Musk has been handling things.
And a more recent account from The Hill, Senate Republican says Musk ‘does not have the power to fire people’. This looks like an attempt to ‘splain the Musk-Rubio spat that is backfiring. It depicts Musk as acknowledging that he is subordinate to agency heads when the New York Times account showed the reverse, that Musk was browbeating Cabinet members for not having bent to DOGE directives, as in he was demanding that they account to him:
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Sunday that tech billionaire Elon Musk “does not have the power to fire people.”
“Elon Musk does not have the power to fire people. The president of the United States is Donald Trump, and the agency heads are the ones who manage each of their departments, so they’ve got the — they’ve got the decision, that’s what Elon Musk has told me time and time again,” Scott said on CNN’s “State of the Union” to anchor Jake Tapper.
Mind you, these rows at the top are coming as Republican leaders have effectively told Congresscritters to hide from their constituencies, presumably out of fear of generating viral video clips critical of the Trump Administration, paraticularly DOGE. From the Guardian:
After Roger Marshall, a senator from Kansas, was hounded out of his own town hall event last week, Republican party leaders had had enough. Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, and Richard Hudson, the chair of the GOP’s fundraising body, decided the embarrassment had to end, and they told Republicans to stop holding the public events….
Johnson and Hudson’s edict came after several Republican town halls were interrupted in recent weeks. Scott Fitzgerald, a four-year congressman, faced an angry crowd at an event in West Bend, Wisconsin, in late February. Fitzgerald was repeatedly booed as he defended the role of Elon Musk, in particular.
Lordie. So now is everyone a fragile flower? If you are in office, part of the job is talking to citizens, particularly unhappy ones.
Violent Opposition to Musk and Tesla
Americans, particularly those who consider themselves middle class, take a dim view of destruction of property. See for instance the criticism of George Floyd protestors, the overwhelming majority of whom were non-violent. So the attacks against Tesla dealerships and vehicles may be more significant than the raw level suggests. It may portend a change in the zeitgeist.
Mind you, I have no idea how significant this activity is. Twitter would of course favor reports that the attacks on Tesla dealership are the work of evil leftie Soros-paid goons. And the press might under-report so as not to encourage imitators. But the fact that this is happening at even a modest scale seems noteworthy.
Some of the anger is well warranted and not (despite what follows shortly) all or possibly even primarily “left wing”:
ICYMI: “They died telling their stories. DOGE isn’t real. THIS is real. F*ck Elon Musk.”
9/11 First Responders rip Musk & DOGE after Trump’s administration cut funding for the World Trade Center health program. pic.twitter.com/wBoGWHFAEi
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) March 10, 2025
Not a large protest, but not shabby either:
“Launch Musk to Mars” , “fuck Tesla” and “Democracy Dies with DOGE”. #3E #endoligarchy #teslatakeover #teslatakedown pic.twitter.com/wqnsr1bg7g
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) March 9, 2025
Now to the more aggressive action:
Valerie Costa, the far-left activist behind the so-called “Tesla Takedown” fueling a spree of vandalism nationwide, proudly admits her campaign draws inspiration from Luigi Mangione.
She labels Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative as “criminal,” even though Trump won both the popular… pic.twitter.com/Ec7LCkVBd9
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) March 9, 2025
🚨🇺🇸 Meanwhile in Seattle, US
Far Left NGO Groups have been attacking Tesla showrooms & Tesla storage units.
Peoples individual Tesla’s have also been targeted, The deranged Left consider to be a protest assault against DOGE, Musk & Trump, they are becoming increasingly violent… pic.twitter.com/PmzWEHA8GL
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) March 10, 2025
Bob Lefsetx at Big Picture, who is not a hair-on-fire sort, sees this trend as having the potential to escalate:
And now people are attacking Tesla cars and dealerships and…
We can’t say exactly how many people are responsible, but one thing is for sure, they’re tapping into an anger that permeates the left, if not some of the right too.
We could make this about Musk. Prognosticators believe it’s only a matter of time before he’s excised, that’s Trump’s style, but really this is about frustration with the direction of the country under Trump’s rule. The Democrats keep telling constituents to believe in the system. Meanwhile, Mike Johnson tells his minions to stop holding town halls.
In other words, the government may be losing control of the public, and that’s never a good sign. Trump’s approval ratings are dismal. And when people feel powerless…some take action. And just like with UnitedHealthcare, their behavior is endorsed by the general public and chaos rules.
AND ELON MUSK IS TAKING TONS OF PEOPLE’S JOBS!
Now what. Most people don’t have deep pockets like Elon. We keep reading how close everyone is to being broke, with only a few weeks’ money in the bank. You fire these people and they’re just going to shrug their shoulders and get on the bread line?
NO, THEY’RE GOING TO GET ANGRY!
This is what happens when you’re rich, both Trump and Elon, you’re out of touch with the public. Yes, yes, yes, Trump channeled the dissatisfaction of the blue collar workers and underclass, but don’t think he really knows anything about their lives. Do you know anybody rich? Especially those who grew up rich? Their experiences, their perspective is different. They don’t know what they don’t know.
As for Elon… He was squeezed out of PayPal for being an a**hole. His Teslas are responsible for more accidents per vehicle than any other brand because the self-driving software doesn’t work and sure, he blasted off a few rockets, but a bunch blew up too. And Canada just canceled its Starlink order. I mean why in the hell is this guy a hero? Not to mention he fires people willy-nilly.
The Stench of Corruption
The level of learned passivity over the Trump Administration corruption is shocking. Yes, Americans have been conditioned to it via the failures to hold anyone at the top meaningfully accountable, from banksters over the financial crisis to the Sacklers for Harry-Lime-level murderous drug maladministration for profit to Nancy Pelosi’s insider trading profits.
Trump launching his own coin, an immediate personal monetization of his coming back into office, was nevertheless a stunning new low in conduct. And it’s not often enough noted that the coin would allow for direct payment of bribes.
But for now, we’ll focus on Musk and DOGE.
When Trump was sworn in, Elon Musk’s corporations were under more than 32 investigations conducted by at least 11 federal agencies.
Most of the cases are now closed or likely to be closed soon, and the federal agencies are being defanged by DOGE.
Funny how that works, huh? pic.twitter.com/0mtBtc5OTm
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 9, 2025
FAA employees are being warned by Elon Musk, his ‘DOGE Boy Band Of Total Destruction’ and even StarLink representatives that they “Must not delay or interfere in any way” with cancelling the 15 year $2.4 billion Verizon FAA communications contract and must “expedite” Musk’s… pic.twitter.com/h4lApmlb5s
— Marty Taylor (@RealMartyT7) March 9, 2025
To keep this post to a reasonable length, we’ll conclude with this must-watch presentation by Senator Chris Murphy. He takes pains to point out that he has limited himself to what he thinks are the 20 most corrupt actions since the Trump Administration took office. By my count, half have Musk as the lead or significant beneficiaries.
DOGE gets $8 million a day of taxpayer money. Currently at $40 million.
Trump’s weekend golf trips TO HIS OWN HOME costs is $3 million a weekend – currently at $18.2 million.
Elon’s companies get $18 BILLION in taxpayer money and he’s blown up two million dollar rockets.
The… pic.twitter.com/R2VS5g06Db
— Dittie (@DittiePE) March 8, 2025
Keep in mind Senator Murphy’s opening observation: that this stunning new level of corruption is being done in the open to normalize it. And that strategy in particular is working very well.
___
1 Yes, we do know there is no contemporaneous evidence that Marie Antoinette ever said that. But there are plenty of modern analogues to that way of thinking, such as “Learn to code”.
00 Death of a Nation
