Legal experts have warned that recent rulings could turn the courts into weapons against federal agencies
Summary
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with recommending $500 billion in federal spending cuts.
Their agenda includes defunding organizations like Planned Parenthood and public broadcasting, using recent Supreme Court rulings to justify overturning federal regulations and enabling mass federal worker layoffs.
Critics warn this could undermine public health, civil rights, and gun control regulations.
DOGE’s recommendations, aligned with Trump’s goals, aim to scale back federal oversight and reduce spending but face legal and practical challenges. A final report is due by July 2026.
Congress creates agencies, not a president elect. And it takes years to create an agency. A new agency created today probably wouldn't promulgate its first lawful regulation for two years.
The idea that any of this Musk shit is actually happening is Republican fan fiction.
Trump had to reward two of his biggest bootlickers with plum jobs but didn't want them to have actual government positions, so his team came up with this. They'll make recommendations that are already in the planbook and if the courts block all their nonsense they can throw them under the bus as a distraction.
This reminds me of one of the jokes from an old episode Fairlyodd Parents where they make Cosmo the "Rice President", it sounds official but is functionally meaningless. They needed to give him a promotion, but not the power to do anything.
They don’t have to write checks, they can just tell the stooges installed at the top of federal agencies what to do. It’s like when a think tank writes a bill for a congressperson to introduce.