In one sense, Elon Musk failed at DOGE: he came nowhere near to cutting $2 trillion in federal spending, the goal he set for the endeavor before revising expectations downward. He destroyed USAID and a few other programs that had been the focus of right-wing culture war offensives, he demolished hundreds of NIH grant projects, and he hobbled a few offices devoted to regulating his businesses.
But even with him somewhat out of the picture (it’s worth being skeptical about his claims of retreat), the rampage will continue.
That’s partly because DOGE wasn’t only Musk.
The White House structured it via a series of executive orders that installed DOGE teams in agencies across the federal government. Those teams will continue like an autonomous termite machine. Per other executive orders, new appointments at federal agencies need to be made after consulting with the agency’s DOGE team leader; other reports indicate that some DOGE officials have already taken staff positions within agencies themselves.
With Musk gone, it’s also unclear who will take his place as ideological leader, chieftain, memelord, or doge of DOGE — whatever you want to call his strange mixture of direction and marketing. Some rumors hold that Office of Management and Budget chief Russ Vought will be the next DOGE leader, though as others have noted, we never did learn who the true administrator of DOGE was, did we?
All of this is to say that DOGE has slowed down. Musk is vocally disappointed with how the effort played out. At the same time, the effort is continuing: the fight is not over.
— Josh Kovensky
Some of DOGE’s legacy will lie with Congress
As DOGE enters its next chapter, Congress is now finally getting around to addressing DOGE’s vast cuts to the executive branch. This is the rescissions process, which my colleague Nicole has been keeping tabs on for months: Some Republican lawmakers have clung to the theory that all of DOGE’s cuts will someday be voted on by Congress, a way to avoid accusations that they’ve surrendered the power of the purse to President Trump and Musk. Without Congress, they are not official, this theory goes.
The first such vote is likely to come in June.
As Josh writes above, DOGE, while falling far, far short of Musk’s $2 trillion-in-decimation goal, did a lot of damage. It seems next to impossible that Congress will rubber stamp all of it, including the decimation of USAID and the clawed-back grants to academic research institutions that impact lawmakers’ communities directly.
Will this flagrant violation of the separation-of-powers ever be resolved? Our guess is no. It’s another aspect of DOGE’s legacy that remains murky.
— John Light
MAHA Commission report references studies that don’t exist
This is just a theory, but this may be another example of the administration’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence outpacing the technology’s abilities.
NOTUS has the exclusive.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Commission report harnesses ‘gold-standard’ science, citing more than 500 studies and other sources to back up its claims. Those citations, though, are rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions.
Seven of the cited sources don’t appear to exist at all.
Later on Thursday, the report was republished with the fake reports removed.
Poland is the next front in the fight over the MAGAfication of Europe
Karol Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, is the right-wing Law and Justice party’s candidate. His opponent is the liberal mayor of Warsaw.
From the AP:
Nawrocki’s supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional, patriotic values. Many oppose abortion and LGBTQ+ visibility and say Nawrocki reflects the traditional values they grew up with.
He is also the preferred favorite of Trump, with the conservative group CPAC holding its first meeting in Poland on Tuesday to give him a boost. Kristi Noem, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary and a prominent Trump ally, strongly praised him and urged Poles to give him their vote.
A common refrain from his supporters is that Nawrocki will restore “normality,” as they believe Trump has done. U.S. flags appear at his rallies.
The run-off election between the two candidates is on Sunday.
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And the worst part is the damage (incalculable and probably unknowable) he did to the lives of average government workers who are unemployed, fearful, and faced with rebuilding their lives, all because of this son-of-a-bitch and his fantasies.
Apropos of nothing, the United States could recover from the Trump Years if
However, the way our current lawz’n’customz work, this can never happen. One, Presidents and former Presidents are “special” untouchable creatures. Just ask the Supreme Court, and any Justice Department from the last 80 years. And two, Democrats won’t prosecute, because that would be “politicization”. Three is just too obvious: Republicans put Party and Personality above all else, even Money.
We’ve got to change these “givens”, and we’ve got to do it fast. Like having the groundwork in place in time for the 2026 elections.
Musk was just the useful dummy; Russel Vought was and will continue to be the ventriloquist.
And Trump the mechanism/process by which to implement the “messages.”
Lotta DOGE people bailing along with Elmo. Flunkies left to do more thoughtless carnage