What the DOGE debates really reveal

debate

Last week I took part in a point/counterpoint on the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), making a brief case for its mission and legitimacy. I took the opportunity this weekend to expound upon that over at Forbes.

DOGE has drawn sharp criticism and accusations of illegality. A court order just this past week froze administration-directed agency reductions in force. But much of the outcry misses the deeper point that DOGE may not—and worse, cannot—go far enough.

The critics’ double standard

DOGE’s critics claim it violates norms, but they have often supported far more sweeping executive actions under prior administrations. Biden’s whole-of-government DEI mandates, student loan forgiveness, and eviction moratoria sparked less concern. The real fear? That DOGE might set the stage for reducing the executive branch’s entire footprint plus challenge Congress’s own overreach, not just curtail certain excesses of the administrative state.

Workforce and agency cuts

DOGE can’t abolish agencies, but it can shrink them. Working with Senate-appointed agency leadership, it has, for example, reportedly folded USAID into the State Department, and cut some 150,000 personnel via attrition and buyouts (the move just put on hold by a California judge). Legal challenges are mounting, but downsizing of non-essential functions is a legitimate function of the executive branch, as Donald J. Devine, who served as Ronald Reagan’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director has described.

Spending and contract reductions

DOGE has claimed $165 billion in savings, far short of Musk’s $2 trillion goal. But many cuts hit entrenched NGO and agency pipelines, which could have long-term impacts far beyond initial numbers. Trump’s EO 14222 sets the stage for auditing subsidies and contracts, which can potentially indirectly cut the regulatory laundering embedded in such spending. Congress needs to pay greater attention to this backdoor regulation.

Deregulation set in motion

By direction of EO 14,219, DOGE Team Leads are fast-tracking rule repeals using the same “good cause” exemption often used to add regulations. Critics cry abuse, but using that authority to remove burdensome rules is arguably less egregious than using it to impose them without public input.

Privacy concerns and political entanglements

Lawsuits over DOGE’s data access cite privacy risks and Musk’s private-sector ties. These deserve scrutiny, but so do the longstanding public-private partnerships and surveillance expansions under past administrations.

Conclusion: A start, not the end

DOGE is temporary, slated to sunset by July 2026. But Trump’s broader rollback effort—including EOs on water pressure standards and regulatory overcriminalization just issued this past Friday—suggests a much wider deregulatory agenda.

Compared to the bipartisan expansions of recent decades, DOGE is modest. The real constitutional crisis isn’t DOGE—it’s the century-long erosion of enumerated powers and the unchecked growth of the administrative state. If anything, DOGE needs sharper teeth if rule of law is to prevail. By rule of law, we mean the Constitution rather than the progressive administrative state that has largely replaced it.

See also:

“Is The DOGE Unleashed Or Just Barking Loudly?” Forbes

“DOGE’s Swift but Not-so-Terrible Sword” (Point-Counterpoint), Hawaii Tribune Herald (and syndicated)