Opinion | The government waste has been found

No one is in favor of government waste. 

Let’s get that out of the way right up front. I hate it. You hate it. Everyone hates it. And we all want it to be rooted out and dealt with. We want a more efficient, more transparent government that uses tax dollars responsibly and isn’t wasting money on frivolous things or brother-in-law deals. 

That’s why the idea of what Elon Musk is doing, with his Department of Government Efficiency, is, at first glance, so appealing. 

But the way he’s doing it, and the overall execution of the entire DOGE department, is why he and his actions have become so incredibly unpopular with the American public. Recent polling released over the weekend show that somewhere between 30 and 37 percent of the American public approve of Musk’s work. 

Those numbers are even lower than co-president Donald Trump’s approval ratings, which sit at around 42-44 percent – the lowest in American history for a president only a month into his term. Trump’s numbers are undoubtedly being dragged down by Musk’s actions as well. 

The reason the public is responding so poorly to Musk is simple: He’s behaving like a jackass. 

From his weird actions on stage at CPAC, where he wielded a chainsaw and screamed like a maniac, to his callous comments to anyone who dares challenge any of his actions, to his correspondence with and vilification of regular ol’ federal employees, it all has been incredibly off-putting. 

Because it’s one thing to speak in broad, generalized terms about a “wasteful federal bureaucracy,” but it’s quite another to start sending out threatening emails to thousands of workers, calling into question what they do and pretending – by calling them the “parasite class” – that their work is frivolous, unnecessary, scandalous or wasteful. 

We know these people. We live with these people. We interact with these people. We see them go to work every day, and for the most part, we see them take pride in their work and do the jobs well. 

Are there bad federal employees? Oh, I’m certain there are. Just like there are bad bankers, bad stock brokers, bad electric vehicle company owners, bad presidents and bad lawmakers. Every industry has its percentage of bad employees. We’ve all worked with them. 

But the absolute worst of the worst employees are the ones who don’t take the time to learn the job and instead try to BS their way through it, while making it seem as if what they’re doing is invaluable. That’s what Musk and his team of teenagers are doing right now. 

That much is evident in their laughable “discoveries” of “fraud.” Almost all of it, on closer inspection, has been misunderstood by Musk and his team and/or misrepresented – either intentionally or ignorantly. 

Like the condoms for Gaza. That was wrong. Wrong country. Wrong amount. Wrong program. 

Just this weekend, DOGE listed as another example of fraud a $7 million expense for the study of “magic.” Except, they didn’t understand, or didn’t care to understand, that it was actually an expense for a science center for children. The “magic” part came into play because the city where it was being constructed is nicknamed “the magic city,” and the center was formally called The Magic Discovery Center. 

The list of such ridiculous mistakes and mischaracterizations is almost endless at this point. And what we’re all learning – at least, those of us who care to actually pay attention – is that while the federal government is bloated and we could probably stand to cut or scale back a number of programs, the idea of outright, obvious fraud was a misconception – damn near a conspiracy theory – that we mostly all have carried and supported improperly for too long. 

I’ll tell you something else, speaking as someone who has uncovered and exposed actual government fraud a few times, what Musk and his team are doing – even if those teenagers had financial training or government computer systems training – will never find actual fraud. That’s because fraud doesn’t exist on a spreadsheet. It exists within how the numbers on those spreadsheets are doled out – who’s getting the cash, who’s getting the contract, who’s getting the kickbacks, etc. 

They’re not looking at any of that. Which should make every one of you question exactly what the hell is going on here. 

If you wanted an audit, why wouldn’t you hire auditors? If you wanted an examination of government operations, why wouldn’t you hire people trained in that field? 

Or is this about something else? 

Is it about data for Musk and compliance for Trump? That data the DOGE team is mining, in this day and age, is worth more than gold. And it doesn’t hurt if along the way you can crush the government oversight investigations into your companies. 

I also seem to recall that in the previous Trump administration, much of his most egregious acts – the really unconstitutional and illegal things he wanted to do – were blocked successfully or delayed just long enough to avoid catastrophe by small bands of government workers who quietly and efficiently resisted. A purge of those workers would make life much easier for a felon who has an utter disregard for the law and constitution. 

Thankfully, the American people, at a surprisingly fast pace, are starting to realize there’s a rat in the building. 

Only a month into this administration and we’re already seeing a backlash like I never would have predicted. A natural, organic, self-organized movement among the people – including a boatload of Republicans – have started to loudly push back on what they’re seeing from Trump and his billionaire pals. And why not? 

The prices are still high and getting higher. The economy has taken a nosedive thanks to his goofy tariffs and unstable behavior. Hiring is down. Consumer confidence is falling. And the primary focus of the administration is on absurd things like taking over Greenland and harassing regular working folks for no apparent reason. 

If any of Alabama’s elected Republicans ever held a town hall meeting, they’d probably get an earful, too. Especially Rep. Dale Strong, who represents the Huntsville area, where thousands of job cuts are expected to impact the local economy. Strong’s most recent response –  eh, Huntsville can handle it – would get him run out of the room.  

On some level, I suppose that such a cowardly response is a good thing. At least you know that when you properly resist the Trump administration’s illegal and unconstitutional acts, you don’t have to worry about people like Strong taking a stand in your way. If they’re willing to shirk the constitution to fall in line behind a felon, imagine how quickly they’d kowtow when confronted by angry people they actually know. 

But still, having such weak-kneed, spineless individuals in office isn’t good. It places us all in peril. If we can’t rely on them to at the very least stand up for the law and constitution, what good are they? 

Maybe that’s the actual government waste that’s been uncovered here.