In my view, the “Deep State” is a hoax about the federal government and its workforce, perpetrated by Donald Trump and his MAGA followers. Their only meaning for the term is “fraud, waste and abuse.” No specific definition or details of what it means are provided.
Now that Donald Trump is President, he has his mega-donor Elon Musk and his cronies attacking the “Deep State” by hacking away at the federal workforce, federal programs and whole federal departments and agencies. In my opinion, as a retired, experienced federal manager, they are going about the process in the wrong way. Not even bothering to learn each agency’s mission and what work its people do, they are blindly accessing databases and cutting people and programs without any background about who and what they are. That’s why they are making many, many mistakes and are having to backtrack and correct them by rehiring the people because they have a vital mission to perform for the country, such as safeguarding our nuclear systems and codes. I won’t go into all the mistakes Musk and his young techies have made. You are probably aware of them.
Just because you believe something is fraud, waste and abuse, doesn’t mean it is. Right at the start, President Trump fired the Inspectors General whose vital position was to find fraud, waste and abuse in their respective agencies and how much money was saved through their investigations. Musk should have talked to each one of them. Even after their firing, the Inspectors General reports were available for Musk and friends to gain some background on what the Inspectors General had found and what they were currently looking at in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse. That step was not taken.
Just going on what Musk and his cronies thought existed in the government has led to illegal cutting of programs, in some cases, life-saving programs, and the money associated with those programs, which had been allocated by Congress. The Power of the Purse belongs to Congress, but they seem to have abdicated this authority.
The actions of Musk are also unethical and a conflict of interest. Musk is cutting departments that oversee regulations and complaints, which impact his businesses.
At a press conference, Trump and Musk said Musk would recuse himself if there were a conflict of interest. Not happening. How dumb do they think the American people are?
A prime example of this is Musk’s insertion of himself at the Federal Aviation Administration, urging that his Starlink take over FAA communications. This would bring a lot of money to his business. Verizon had already been vetted through the federal contracting process and had won the contract for FAA communications. Musk already has many federal contracts.
Government employees provide daily services that benefit the American people. These services will be sorely missed when the fallout of deep cuts in the federal workforce is realized: when we don’t have warnings of bad weather; there will be no FEMA to help with disaster response and relief; taxpayers can’t get help from IRS during tax season; scientific trials and advancements won’t be made in cancer and Alzheimer’s research; our food will not get inspected; veterans will not get the services they deserve, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The salaries of federal employees are only a small percentage of the budget, so how much is DOGE really saving by cutting so many workers. Another serious impact is the closing or near closing of whole government agencies. For example, the shuttering of the US Agency for International Development, is already affecting American farmers and causing deaths throughout the world and will continue to cause deaths because of the lack of vital medical and nutritional aid to many countries.
As a retired federal manager, I know from experience that you need to know the mission before you make any changes or cuts to an organization. I went through many reorganizations and contingency plans at the threat of a government shutdown during my 37-year federal career. These processes were always thoughtful, detailed actions that were planned and implemented by subject matter experts/leaders. This isn’t happening with Musk’s DOGE approach.
Before I close, there is one other thing that grates on me. It is Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s statement that federal employees don’t deserve their jobs, that they don’t deserve a paycheck. Who does she think she is? She is a federal employee who is paid by American taxpayers. She probably doesn’t even know that federal employees are among her constituents. Oops!
And then, there is the budget with its drastic cuts to Medicaid. This will have a major negative effect on the American people, including MAGA supporters throughout the country. The money from the Medicaid cuts will go for tax breaks for the rich. Trump and Musk are only thinking of themselves and their tax breaks. That to me is fraud, waste and abuse. They have no empathy for or care about the effects of their actions on the American people.
If you want to get involved in pushing back on these drastic changes to our country, its democratic way of life, and the challenges to the rule of law, here are some suggestions. You can contact your members of Congress and express your views and offer ideas on how they might fight on your behalf. You can join Indivisible Rt. 1 Corridor, Indivisible Prince George’s County and/or the Laurel Resist. Indivisible Rt. 1 Corridor covers the distance of Route 1 in Prince George’s County, from Mount Ranier to Beltsville. Other local groups of concerned citizens are Indivisible Prince George’s County, which is taking progressive action to protect our people and our planet, and Laurel Resist, which meets regularly at Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church, 522 Main St., Laurel 20707. Google these groups and check them out on Facebook.
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