A few weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of a new advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE. Although its name suggests a government entity, DOGE will be an nongovernment commission, operating independently. It will only be able to provide recommendations to the president and Congress, and like many of Trump's early announcements, details about what it might do remain scarce.
We do know who will lead it, however: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. According to Trump's post on X, the duo "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies." But due to Musk and Ramaswamy's reputations — both have taken increasingly aggressive stances on social issues, prioritizing trolling and "own the libs" rhetoric — the reception from Democrats has been mostly pessimistic.
This is perhaps understandable. Trump's return to the Oval Office has engendered an explosion of cynicism and distrust from many on the left. Trump's various pledges to punish political opponents aren't helping. Even so, Democrats need to try to fight against that cynicism — especially when it comes to the problems that politicians on both sides of the aisle can clearly see need fixing.
This is a preview of Susan Del Percio's latest article. Read the full column here.
