Feeding government into the wood chipper

Back in December when I thought about Musk being appointed to head a Department of Government Efficiency to recommend how to cut government spending, I figured he would draw up a list of government services, how much they spend now, how much he thinks they should spend, and he would hand that list to the nasty guy and Congress. I did not think he and his crew would barge into government offices, declare the department closed, tap into or remove computers, fire employees, and leave a lot of chaos. I did not think he would do it with acquiescence or permission of the department heads and cabinet members. I did not expect Republicans in Congress to essentially say, Hmm... Oh well. In the news over the last week... Emily Singer of Daily Kos reported that on Monday Musk announced he (not the nasty guy or Congress) is shutting down the United States Agency for International Development, USAID. The website is offline, employees were told not to report to work. USAID is funded by Congress, so not spending the money as Congress directed is illegal. The agency is critical in many global health efforts around the world – in monitoring diseases and supplying medications. This is as mpox and bird flu are on the rise. Stopping these programs leaves people without lifesaving drugs and medical care. An example is the 6.5 million people who get HIV medications. Another news source said that current HIV meds keep the virus at undetectable levels, but that does not mean gone. Stop the meds, even for a short time, and the virus grows again, this time as a more resistant strain. Even a pause in the regimen can result in a death sentence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said all of USAID’s program need to be evaluated so they advance the interests of the US. A healthy world is in the interest of the US. Doing this aid work is also in national interest because China and Russia are eager to step in and be nice to countries the US is abandoning. Bill in Portland, Maine, in a Cheers and Jeers column for Kos quoted an ABC News story that said USAID is critical for getting aid into Gaza. That aid is central to the ceasefire bargain. Shutting down USAID raises the risk that the ceasefire deal with collapse. Considering the nasty guy has been talking about a Gaza Riviera, this might be the intended outcome. An Associated Press article posted on Kos gives more details. Including this (“They” being DOGE):

They have ordered a spending stop that has paralyzed U.S.-funded aid and development work around the world, gutted the senior leadership and workforce with furloughs and firings, and closed Washington headquarters to staffers Monday. Lawmakers said the agency’s computer servers were carted away. “Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” Musk boasted on X. The mass removal of thousands of staffers overseas and in Washington would doom billions of dollars in projects in some 120 countries, including security assistance to partners such as Ukraine as well as development work for clean water, job training and education, including for schoolgirls under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Yes, USAID is more than health. USAID overseas workers are now scrambling. How do we get back to the states? What about children in school? Do we have time to do the paperwork for pets? Morgan Stephens of Kos reported DOGE has hit the CIA. The entire workforce has received buyout offers.

The CIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates information on economic, military, and political developments abroad to protect national security.

So much for national security. Completely shutting down the CIA doesn’t seem to be the goal here, just shake it up and slim it down. Get rid of a lot of experience. Make it a lot less effective.

Trump’s moves aren’t just reckless, they’re potentially catastrophic for America’s national security at a time when its global security is becoming increasingly more fragile. As the CIA thins out its ranks, U.S. enemies are undoubtedly watching and celebrating.

Singer reported:

After illegally axing USAID and drafting plans to do the same with the Department of Education, President Donald Trump and his unelected co-president, Elon Musk, have now set their sights on decimating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal scientific agency that helps forecast the weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions, and manages the protection of marine life. "Hearing reports that Musk’s cronies are targeting NOAA—infiltrating key systems & locking out career employees," Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland wrote on X. "NOAA is vital for weather forecasting, scientific research & more. Their critical work saves lives. My team and I are looking into this & we will not stand for it."

There are a couple reasons why the nasty guy and Musk would want to decimate NOAA. The big one is it is instrumental in doing and keeping track of research into global warming. The bonus is with NOAA gone weather forecasting can be taken over by a for-profit company and the forecast you use to plan your day would then depend on how much you are willing to pay for it. NOAA provides it for free. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported that many Republicans are just fine with all this government destruction. They’re glad American tax dollars will be spent only on the interests of the American people (not that they have a clue – unless their definition of “American people” is the billionaires). They’re pleased that Musk is finding so much waste to eliminate (a billionaire’s “waste” is a poor person’s living allowance). They hesitate to deny Lutheran Family Services is a money-laundering operation. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted a tweet by Loren DeJong Schulman:

You say: they shutdown USAID. You mean: they illegally broke in to a secure facility over a weekend, hijacked sensitive data on vulnerable people and US businesses, destroyed property Americans paid for, cut off resources for hungry families, and fired Americans.

In the comments SanAntonioKrust included a tweet from Acyn of a clip of Rachel Maddow, who says:

I think it's pretty obvious now that they are using DEI as just a pretext. They're giving everything that, you know, unfashionable boogeyman label to try to avoid people in general, realizing that what they're really doing is just wrecking the US government.

Way down in the comments is a cartoon showing a MAGA couple at the grocery store:

Wife: They cut our Social Security and Medicare! Trump’s tariff have cause massive inflation! Remember when we were upset about the price of eggs? Husband: It’s getting more and more expensive to own the libs!

In another roundup Chitown Kev quoted Ross Andersen of The Atlantic. I will summarize it by saying we’re in deep trouble if DOGE decides it can take its chainsaws to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Down in the comments is a cartoon by Mike Luckovich based on the announcement by Waffle House that it is adding 50 cents for each egg in an order to offset high egg prices. The cartoon shows a Waffle House. On one side is a patron with a newspaper headline, “Trump attacks Democracy not high food prices.” On the other side a patron is giving his order, “Do you serve Eggs Benedict... Arnold?” In the comments of a third pundit roundup is a meme by Aaron Rupar:

Draw your own conclusions, but Donald Trump is not behaving like a leader who expects democratic accountability for himself or his party next year or in 2028.

In the comments of a fourth roundup exlrrp is a photo of a person painting over a wall that displayed the words, such as Fairness, Initiative, Respect, Constitution, and more. The caption says:

Trump’s had them paint over a mural about fairness and compassion at the F.B.I. Academy at Quantico. All of these values must now be hidden from society under the new Nazi regime.

Added by exlrrp: “OK: Looks like: (checks notes) fairness, leadership, compassion, diversity, integrity, and stability are just too woke for the FBI.” A ways further down exlrrp posted a meme:

Frustration is knowing that the agenda is not hidden anymore and yet the sheep are still obeying.

As part of a series on explaining the right, Oliver Willis of Kos discussed why the right wants small government. Commenters seemed to agree that Willis got to the how, but not the why. They added their own answers. The answers (some posed by more than one person): Racism. Limit taxes and regulations on corporations. Only a federal government can stand up to the crimes of a big corporation, so they want a government incapable of that. They want to eliminate anything that doesn’t support them at the top of the social hierarchy. Others disputed that Republicans want a small government. The big plans the MAGA crowd want (doing deportations, imposing tariffs, and much more) require a big government. It just won’t be doing things for the common people. Another rejected the idea business people want the government to run like a business – no business operates this way. Two Americas included a couple quotes on the role of government. The first is from Franklin Roosevelt’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention of 1936. The whole quote is long. Here’s the first paragraph:

An old English judge once said: “Necessitous men are not free men.” Liberty requires opportunity to make a living – a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.

The other is by Abraham Lincoln from about 1854. Here are the first and last paragraphs:

The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves—in their separate, and individual capacities. ... From this it appears that if all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government.