Not only does DOGE not seem to understand this, it has given no indication that it wants to understand. These are the easiest employees to fire, legally speaking, so they’re gone. It even changed the length of the probationary period—from one year of service to two—in order to super-size its purge of the National Science Foundation.
It takes a certain swashbuckling arrogance to propel a startup to glory. But as we’ve repeatedly said, the United States is not a startup. The federal government exists to do all of the things that are definitionally not profitable, that serve the public good rather than protect investor profits. (The vast majority of startups also fail, something the United States cannot afford to do.)
And if you don’t believe in the public good? You sprint through the ruination. You metastasize from agency to agency, leveling the maximum allowable destruction under the law. DOGE’s costly, embarrassing mistakes are a byproduct of reckless nihilism; if artificial intelligence can sell you a pizza, of course it can future-proof the General Services Administration.
Worse still, none of this will actually help DOGE make a dent in its purported mission. What’s efficient about firing people you have to scramble to hire back? What are the cost savings of a few thousand federal employees compared to the F-35 program? What are we even doing here, actually?
There are two possible explanations for this mess. One is that Musk and DOGE have no interest in the government, or efficiency, but do care deeply about the data they can reap from various agencies and revel in privatization for its own sake. The other is that a bunch of purportedly talented coders have indeed responded to a higher civic calling but are out here batting .202.
Musk did have a rare moment of self-awareness late last week, during an Oval Office appearance with his 4-year-old son and President Donald Trump. “We will make mistakes,” he said, “but we’ll act quickly to correct any mistakes.”
So far he’s half right.
The Chatroom
Are any of the changes DOGE has made for the better?
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What Else We’re Reading
DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion in One Contract. It Was Actually $8 Million: Further reading on the DOGE savings tracker fiasco. (The New York Times)
‘Help Us:’ Hundreds deported from US held in Panama hotel: A bracing look at the conditions under which immigrants are being held abroad. (BBC)
Trump administration yanks CDC flu vaccine campaign: Robert F. Kennedy is now sworn in, and it appears the vaccine pullback has already begun. (NPR)
