Musk Fought the Swamp and the Swamp Won
Despite a few notable achievements, such as cutting USAID, the deep state (swamp) soundly defeated Musk and his merry band of whiz kids.
This post is the first of two dealing with the debt crisis. The second part will be posted on July 4th - Independence Day - and it will be a blockbuster.
According to sources, including DOGE, the spending cuts identified so far are $175 billion. While this is not insignificant, it is far short of the goal of $1 trillion.
I am reminded of the lyrics to I Fought the Law and the Law Won. This enduring anti-authoritarian anthem was popularized by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1965. I have revised some of the lyrics below to apply to Musk.
I'm cutting costs and I'm about done I fought the swamp and the swamp won Taking on the deep state is no fun I fought the swamp and the swamp won I left Tesla and I feel so bad I guess my cost-cutting race is run This was the last best chance America had I fought the swamp and the swamp won
What Has DOGE Accomplished?
DOGE is not finished and there likely will be some further proposed cuts to government spending. The cuts announced so far total $175 billion. This is only 2.5% of spending and will reduce the annual deficit by less than 10%. Moreover, there are many who question the $175 billion number. Also, many of the cuts identified by DOGE are not codified and there is no assurance they will materialize.
This should come as no surprise to regular readers. The following are from my posts of December 15, 2024, March 23, 2025 and April 27, 2025.1
“A realistic expectation is for DOGE to cut $100 billion to $200 billion. The best possible outcome is for DOGE to cut $250 billion (12/15/24). I stand by my fearless forecast that DOGE will cut no more than $250 billion (3/23/25). It would be near impossible for DOGE to cut much more than $250 billion (4/27/25).”
Why DOGE Failed
First and foremost, the goal of cutting $1 trillion without touching Social Security and health programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and Obamacare2 was impossible. The entire federal budget excluding Social Security, health programs, defense and interest on the debt is less than $1 trillion.
DOGE did not fully understand the differences between government and business. The bureaucracy cannot be improved by bringing in businessmen.
It is impossible to remove the politics from politics.
Every government program has a constituency both inside and outside of government and they fight fiercely to prevent even minor cuts.
The vitriol from those opposed to cuts was over the top. One politician asserted 300,000 people (mostly children) will starve to death due to USAID cuts.
The DOGE cuts announced thus far represent the low hanging fruit. Further cuts will become progressively more difficult.
Waste, fraud, abuse and corruption are part of the DNA of government.
Waste, fraud, abuse and corruption (WFAC) are endemic in government; they are baked into every program. Put simply, WFAC are in government’s DNA. There is only one way to make government more efficient and that is to cut its size and scope, i.e. abolish entire departments and eliminate entire programs - pull them out root and branch and then pour in salt to prevent regrowth. Even that will not make government more efficient; it will reduce WFAC only to the same degree government shrinks.
Elon Musk and DOGE fought the swamp and the swamp won.
Consequences of DOGE Failure
Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE were America’s last best hope to change the trajectory of government spending and to forestall an imminent and apocalyptic crisis of spending, deficits and debt. Instead, we are getting a “big beautiful bill” that adds more trillions to the deficit.
My next post will be on July 4th - Independence Day. It will address America’s future in light of DOGE’s failure and the big beautiful bill. It will be one of the most consequential posts in my 20 years of blogging. Don’t miss it.
All three posts are available in the Substack archives.
With only cuts for waste, fraud and abuse but no cuts to benefits