While many Trump supporters party on as the Trump/Musk team continues its assault on the federal government, its employees, and the beneficiaries of its programs, some of the rest of us have one question for the President: Why?
We know the official answer: It is to end government waste, fraud, and abuse while reducing the cost of government and regulations at the same time. Forgive me, Mr. President, but I don’t believe you.
Most of Mr. Musk’s shocking discoveries of “fraud” and “waste” are nothing more than programs and expenditures with which he and, presumably, the President disagree. There are no 250-year-old people receiving social security.
And then there is the elephant in the room—the President wants to extend and expand his 2017 tax cuts. The cost is $4.2 trillion over 10 years, according to the Treasury Department. Mr. President, billionaires don’t need another tax cut.
By the way, the Committee for a Responsible Budget says the 10-year cost is between $5 and $11.2 trillion. That is a lot of money.
So, let’s not pretend that the Trump administration has anything to do with a balanced budget or reducing the federal debt, even if Elon Musk’s DOGE is successful in finding $2 trillion in “waste, fraud, and abuse.” The federal debt will increase in the next four years. Mr. President, I know that you know that is true—that is why the House Republican budget resolution raises the debt ceiling.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s first five weeks in office wasn’t just about budget accounting. More worrisome is the absence—I will say complete absence—of any sign of empathy for the thousands of federal employees who have been fired or who are terrified of what Elon Musk and Trump have planned for them.
Setting aside the legal questions regarding the authority of the President to implement wholesale firings and “terminations” of federal agencies without Congressional authorization, there has not been a clue or sign that the administration cares about the impact of the human beings involved. (Federal employees are, without exception, human beings who have feelings and who had, before January 20, 2025, an expectation of being treated with dignity and respect.)
There are hundreds of examples of people who have been fired from their federal jobs and who now face economic crises as a result. There is rent to be paid, food purchases necessary to survive, and new employment to be found. Unfortunately for the summarily fired employees, the job market is flooded with former co-workers.
In the coming months, we will read about some former civil servants becoming homeless, of divorces, and other evidence of despair. I have seen no sign that anyone working for the new administration cares. Have you?
Administration spokespeople will tell you that Americans should celebrate because a burden is being lifted from their shoulders. That message would be easier to accept if the Trump administration did not appear to enjoy the purges now underway.
Did you see Elon Musk dance with a chainsaw, celebrating the work of DOGE, at the Conservative Political Action Committee meeting? Any president other than Trump would have fired him on the spot. Instead, Trump posted that Musk is doing a great job, and he would like to see him become “more aggressive.”
The employee purge now underway is only one of the subjects prompting me to ask Trump, “Why?” The others include his controversial cabinet picks. Trump officials, without a single exception, are “not the best.”
I also wonder about increasing signs of coming “retribution” against the President’s perceived enemies. Will Attorney General Bondi, aided by FBI Director Kash Patel, work to indict former President Biden? I expect it. How about former Special Counsel Jack Smith?
What is going on with this administration? Why aren’t more of us raising our voices and asking “Why?” and urging the president to rethink what he’s doing?
One final thought: Ukraine. President Trump has switched sides in the war. He now calls Ukrainian President Zelensky a dictator and accuses him of starting the war. Trump envoys are working on making Vladimir Putin a friend of the United States. Mr. President, Putin will never be my friend.
And then there is Trump’s attempt to pressure Ukraine into surrendering half its mineral rights. I have a question for you, Mr. President: What sort of person proposes something like that? Sounds like extortion to me. Why, Mr. President, Why? What is wrong with you?
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
Eleanor Wells says
Both of these men are missing a chip somewhere in their brains. Their enjoyment in watching the suffering of others seems psychopathic in origin. What saddens me most, however, is that so many of us are looking away.
John Dean says
Thank you for the comment. I share your sadness.
Wilson Dean says
This article raises the ultimate question:why are the Trump administration’s actions so purposefully destructive, so disjointed, so hateful, and so lacking in compassion for so many in our country? And why, does he seem to truly enjoy injecting so much disorder into people’s lives?
Born with a silver spoon, he has never had to suffer the consequences of someone else’s indiscriminate actions. He is the epitome of the spoiled child, lashing out with tantrums and creating chaos in response to being constrained by the rule of law designed to benefit the country as a whole. As for his Ukraine policy, who knows the real reason behind his Putin-worship and his treasonous policies. It can only be said that Russia could not have installed one of its own agents as President who could threaten the world order and world peace more than King Donald.
John Dean says
I could not agree more. Thank you for a comment that raises questions we need to be asking.
Sam Wilson says
The reason Democrats oppose DOGE is that their money depends on us not knowing what they are doing with our money.
John Dean says
Really? I’ve seen no evidence of that. And what do you think they are doing? (Hint: Even if you agree on things like DEI (I don’t), are babies being thrown out with bathwater?)
Sam Wilson says
You see no evidence of funneling money through NGO’s? Do you think the data and evidence they are transparently and constantly releasing to the public is just made up? I think they are trying to make the government efficient and clean up the obvious theft and mismanagement. We have no choice as our debt will crush us at the current rate. It is beyond insulting to ordinary Americans to see their government misplace BILLIONS of dollars. Follow the money. What do you think they are doing?
HR Worthington says
Here you go, John.
https://freebeacon.com/trump-administration/billions-doge-found-parked-at-bank-earmarked-for-stacey-abrams-backed-green-group/
Now’s you’ve seen some evidence; you are most welcome! -HR
Eric Ploeg says
From the article: “…..the Department of Government Efficiency officials discovered that the Biden administration parked that same $20 billion at an outside financial institution before leaving office, limiting the federal government’s oversight of the program….” I believe there’s more to be found as shortly before leaving office Biden quietly appointed DNC operative John Podesta as director of green initiatives funds (many billions). The Podesta brothers are an extremely powerful and connected team inside the Beltway.
As Sam Wilson said, “follow the money” since after all, its our money.
HR Worthington says
Why? Because that is what the Electorate voted for. I find it predictable that partisans, who previously defended spending monstrosities such as the “Inflation Reduction Act” and “Build Back Better” have suddenly found fiscal restraint. I also find it amusing that the same people who found the details of the Hunter Biden laptop uninteresting, are fact-checking the minutiae of benefits fraud. To that end my friend: “The Social Security’s inspector general states that from fiscal years 2015 through 2022, the agency paid out almost $8.6 trillion in benefits, including $71.8 billion in improper payments.” Only 71.8BN, that’s all…who cares? It is just like Burisma and 10% for the Big Guy… who cares?
I of course agree that the human cost of job loss is awful, but why should federal workers be protected from the consequences private sector workers face on a regular basis? Are they somehow more noble than the steelworker in Pennsylvania or the coal miner in West Virigina? To paraphrase Mr. Biden, anybody who can avoid showing up to the office for months on end can sure as hell learn to code. I am sure they will be just fine, so I will hold my sympathy in reserve until the suburbs of Northern Viginia start to resemble the abandoned towns of the Rust Belt.
Speaking of the Biden Crime Family, what about the Ukraine? What do you see as the alternative? Should we continue to fund a war that cannot be won and risk escalation? Should be push Russia into closer partnership with China and its proxy state North Korea? This was ill conceived from the start. Russia did invade. There is no question about that, but a real accounting of the war’s origins is well overdue. Anyone with half a brain who was in Europe in the early 90s would recall James Baker’s: “iron guarantees that NATO jurisdiction or forces would not move eastward.” To what end does NATO expansion serve in the absence of the Warsaw Pact? Nothing other than transfer payments from the US Taxpayer to ensure that France only spends 2% on defense thereby subsidizing generous benefits for its own federal workers.
If you see this as retribution, you would be correct. It is retribution for decades of DC establishment idiocy and its eventual consequences as predictable as the Talbot Spy’s op ed pages. -HR
Art Cecil says
“What is wrong with you?” would be a good question for all of us ask in front of a mirror.