Summary
Elon Musk’s DOGE faces mounting pressure to show achievements amid criticism. Staffers, under pressure from Trump administration officials, seek public relations wins to counter negative headlines.
Cuts to federal offices led to mass layoffs, and efforts to modernize government services have been chaotic. DOGE prioritizes speed over security and protecting sensitive information.
Trump has distanced himself, stating agency chiefs, not Musk, control department cuts, preferring a “scalpel” over a “hatchet” approach. Public opinion has turned against DOGE, with 48% disapproving versus 34% approving, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.
With limited time before their tenure ends, DOGE officials are desperate to show results.
This is a common misconception. The military isn’t designed to be efficient on the back end. It’s designed to win wars efficiently, which is an entirely different thing. The last time they tried to be “efficient” with the military the 101st ended up doing the world’s fastest ground and air assault on rations because they didn’t have enough food and water. And entire battalions got extremely sick from using local water when they absolutely had to.
Thus sounds like a cherry picked example.
I’m not sure what that proves except that whoever tried it last time sounds like a moron.
George W Bush in 2003. And no, it wasn’t just that he was a moron. There were very smart logistics officers working on the problem. It’s an inherent problem. The military normally would much rather over supply an area and write it off after the fighting. Because that means there’s always a pallet of whatever you need and a plane or helicopter to transport it. Trying to meet the exact needs means that when something gets blown up, it’s replacement isn’t even in the right region of the planet.
So to be efficient at blowing shit up you have to accept inefficiency in the back end.