Delta
The successors to Musk will learn to be stealthy.
The deregulators should be like the Special Forces of the Executive Branch, operating in obscurity.
The beauty of deregulation is that it requires an attention span and knowledge of detail its impatient political opponents are unlikely to possess.
‘The trio’s laser goal is to unleash American entrepreneurialism. That message was warmly embraced by Alaskans, including the indigenous populations most harmed by federal rules. At a town hall on the North Slope, the trio received rousing applause after a resident of Kaktovik (in ANWR) thanked the Trump team for making “sure that our ancestral homelands weren’t going to be stolen.”
‘Mr. Trump deregulated in his first term, but like much in this second term, the effort this time is bolder, faster. That’s been enabled by the newly formed National Energy Dominance Council, which Messrs. Zeldin, Wright and Burgum have embraced to work as a team, turbo-charging the process.
‘Whereas it normally takes an agency years to repeal a few rules, the Energy Department had taken 47 deregulatory actions by mid-May, axing rules governing appliances, motors and heating and power equipment—saving consumers and business $11 billion. Mr. Zeldin by March was already re-evaluating Biden regulations on oil and gas, vehicles and power plants. Mr. Burgum is making full use of Mr. Trump’s national “energy emergency” declaration to speed permits in projects across resource fields. And the team is working closely with congressional Republicans to include complementary provisions in the tax bill.
‘Mr. Biden is estimated to have added more than $2 trillion in regulatory burdens to the economy over his four years. While deregulation is harder for Americans to identify and appreciate than a tax cut, the Trump deregulation effort is going to be as central to any economic revival. Inside Alaska, and out.’
DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data
There is a natural tradeoff in decision-making between speed and risk.
You might be a bureaucracy if you don’t acknowledge this in your decision-making because you don’t care about speed, you see only the risk. Here, there is speculation and possibly exaggeration of the downside of moving quickly.
‘As DOGE bulldozes through technological systems, firewalls between government agencies are collapsing and the floodgates are open for data-sharing disasters that will affect everyone. For example, the decision to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to IRS data and to databases of unaccompanied minors creates immediate dangers for immigrants, regardless of their legal status. And it threatens everyone else, albeit perhaps less imminently, as every American’s Social Security number, tax returns, benefits, and health-care records are agglomerated into one massive, poorly secured data pool. ‘
The Clinton/Gore reforms of the 90s cut hundreds of thousands of government employees … and shoved them into federal contracting firms. They outsourced government to expensive consulting firms, in large part. There’s a reason you see so many fancy cars and restaurants in DC and the surrounding environs.
By Pahlka’s account, DOGE may have intended to cut people and replace them with software. But then building and deploying software in the government is, ironically, administratively very difficult. So they picked up their ball and went home. Now we don’t have the people or the software.
She hopes that in the post-DOGE reconstruction period, there will be some thought to dismantling the unproductive obstacles to progress.
Hey, anything’s possible.
‘DOGE has done the same. In cutting the workforce without cutting the work, they, too, ate dessert first. They also don’t seem to have built much software, whether it's to save money, deliver better service, or automate work. Why?’
Supreme Court hands DOGE big wins in Social Security, records cases
If DOGE isn’t an agency, then they’re not subject to FOIA requests. You can’t FOIA the Executive Office of the President.
‘In two separate emergency rulings issued simultaneously, the court lifted a block on DOGE personnel accessing sensitive Social Security Administration (SSA) systems and wiped a ruling forcing DOGE to turn over discovery in a records lawsuit. ‘
MARCANO: There needs to be a thoughtful effort to reduce federal bureaucracy. DOGE wasn’t it.
The apparent defeat of DOGE may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory in the grand battle of things.
It was a sacrifice on the road to a decision to revise the entitlements, perhaps.
Maybe.
‘There needs to be a thoughtful effort to reduce a bloated federal bureaucracy, stop out-of-control spending, and address Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. People don’t want to hear this, but the country can’t afford the social safety net as currently constructed, and needed changes will likely reduce or delay benefits. What does that process look like? How do we get there?’
Show me the incentives and I’ll tell you the outcome.
This is just the first inning, though. The anti-managerialists may just figure out a way to transform this initial failure into renewed energy for the fight.
‘Musk’s analysis is right on the money. The politicians and bureaucrats who benefit the most from the status quo that allowed such waste to flourish also benefit from ignoring the spending reforms DOGE has identified.
‘Fixing that part of the problem will take other acts of Congress, far beyond the “big, beautiful” bill.
‘There are bills now being drafted that seek to codify the reforms DOGE identified in the 130 days Musk led its work. Whether they succeed will depend upon many of the same politicians who spent years earning reputations as unproductive.’
Trump and Musk’s Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight over the Big Beautiful Bill
I don’t want to talk about Godzilla vs. Mothra any more than discipline suggests I should.
But, there can be no deregulation without politics. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch.
‘The widely predicted breakup between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is making the Sunni and Shia divide look like a minor scuffle. The Hatfields and McCoys think this thing is getting a little out of hand. Kendrick Lamar and Drake are offering to host peace talks. As declared in The Week, the fight “is getting so intensely nasty and personal that even Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are telling them to calm down.”’