Congressional Cowards

The Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is my favorite specific activity of the Trump administration thus far, second only to the broader "Great Rejection" message and cultural reset signaled by the GOP's sweeping victory this past November. All around me, however, are people who criticize or reject the revealing of just how reckless and irresponsible our government is with our tax dollars. These "antis" offer a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

• It's too blunt.

• It's reckless.

• Good programs are being killed.

• Good people are being fired.

• Musk is doing this to make himself richer.

• Trump is doing this as political payback rather than for the good of the country.

• The money saved is trivial.

• Musk wasn't elected.

• Musk is a Nazi.

• Trump/Musk don't have the authority to make these cuts.

Some of these criticisms are born of personal animus toward Trump. Some can't see past their hatred, some are upset that the guy they despise is doing some good things and fear being trapped into giving him credit, and some simply assume that anything he does must be de facto Bad. Some are pure partisanship, as in "if the other team does something, I must oppose it, no matter if I like the action itself." Some are selfish/corrupt, as in a gravy train they either like or benefit from is being derailed. Some are about the goring of sacred cows.

It's understandable that some folks will be concerned about "throwing out the baby with the bathwater," that some good programs and people will get caught up in the waves of cutting. My response to that is, if a person or a program worth keeping is axed, reinstate. Realize that the sheer magnitude of the waste-fraud-inefficiency-corruption-farcicality that goes on requires a heavy hand and deep cutting.

Realize that the clock is ticking.

DOGE cuts have to get past the inertia of government in less than 22 months, ahead of the mid-term elections (when it's quite possible that the Democrats win a majority in the House). That inertia brings me to the crux of today's bit: Congress.

The last bullet point above carries weight. While the broad and generalized empowerment of the executive branch by the massive omnibus bills that Congress has enacted in lieu of specific and targeted legislation does allow Trump to cut a lot of things, he can't follow up on every item that DOGE identified without Congressional action. Furthermore, most of what is done by executive order can be undone by the next President, and rest assured that a Democratic successor to Trump will play the "undo" game.

So, it rests on the GOP majority in the House to codify as many of the DOGE cuts as it can.

The problem is that the systemic and perpetual vilification of DOGE, often by personal attacks on Trump and Musk, is apt to keep Congress a henhouse. As in, the GOP Senators and Representatives will be too chicken to protect the DOGE cuts with legislation.

We have seen, across decades, how Congress has abandoned its job of writing law to the Executive Branch. We have also seen, across decades, how Congress has punted on its power of the purse, dispensing chunks of money for bureaucrats to dispense, and worst of all abandoning any sense of fiscal restraint. We've come to expect this from the Left, where the fools who believe in Modern Monetary Theory continue to delude themselves that they can just spend and print and spend and print money, but we've also seen how time and again the GOP talks fiscal responsibility when not in power only to spend and spend and spend when they are.

Time for Congress's Republicans to walk the walk. They certainly won't get any help from the Democrats, who would rather collapse the country than do the right thing, because Trump! and because the Angry Left keeps nipping at their heels, but they have the numbers to get at least some cuts written into law.

Will they, or won't they?

This may be the last chance to rein in spending before an economic setback even more painful than the recent bout of inflation hits us all. I hope they - finally - rise up to the challenge.

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The GOP just managed to pass a government funding bill that will carry through to September, despite initial threats from Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats to shut the government down in a fit of impotent pique. That bill, which I haven’t had time to dive into yet, made some modest cuts per House.gov:

”The bill cuts funding for nondefense programs and services by $13 billion while increasing defense spending by $6 billion compared to fiscal year 2024 enacted levels. It cuts nondefense funding by $15 billion and defense by $3 billion relative to the fiscal year 2025 levels in the Fiscal Responsibility Act agreement.”

Compared to the size of the budget, or even to what DOGE has unearthed so far, that’s a pittance. But, it’s not nothing, and it signals momentum. We should applaud every cut and every dollar saved from waste or worse. That way, our cowards might grow a touch of backbone.