Jonathan Kraut | Reflecting on the Big, Blunderful Bill
On the day of his second inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency, “DOGE.”
Instead of carefully determining where fraud existed or evaluating how to cut waste, this agency, not authorized by Congress as a “department,” started hacking away without sufficient investigation or regard for consequence.
Having worked on numerous financial fraud cases as an investigator for 30 years, I know one must evaluate the effectiveness of any expenditures, track the legitimacy of every dollar spent, and then carefully identify excesses and prosecute those who misuse funds for personal gain, while ensuring the core services envisioned remain intact.
DOGE showed little effort to identify fraud, evaluate effectiveness, or ensure core services were maintained. There was just wholesale demolition to reduce expense with little consequence or consideration.
Government employees were fired without cause for misconduct. CBS reports that talent needed to help protect our interests at the CIA, National Security Agency and cybersecurity departments was eliminated.
Elon Musk, appointed to lead DOGE, encouraged his retinue of 20-somethings to chop congressionally mandated activities.
FAA staffers, about 200 FEMA employees, intelligence gathering professionals, about........
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