While many Trump supporters party on as the Trump/Musk team continues its assault on the federal government, its employees, and the beneficiaries of its programs, some of the rest of us have one question for the President: Why?
We know the official answer: It is to end government waste, fraud, and abuse while reducing the cost of government and regulations at the same time. Forgive me, Mr. President, but I don’t believe you.
Most of Mr. Musk’s shocking discoveries of “fraud” and “waste” are nothing more than programs and expenditures with which he and, presumably, the President disagree. There are no 250-year-old people receiving social security.
And then there is the elephant in the room—the President wants to extend and expand his 2017 tax cuts. The cost is $4.2 trillion over 10 years, according to the Treasury Department. Mr. President, billionaires don’t need another tax cut.
By the way, the Committee for a Responsible Budget says the 10-year cost is between $5 and $11.2 trillion. That is a lot of money.
So, let’s not pretend that the Trump administration has anything to do with a balanced budget or reducing the federal debt, even if Elon Musk’s DOGE is successful in finding $2 trillion in “waste, fraud, and abuse.” The federal debt will increase in the next four years. Mr. President, I know that you know that is true—that is why the House Republican budget resolution raises the debt ceiling.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s first five weeks in office wasn’t just about budget accounting. More worrisome is the absence—I will say complete absence—of any sign of empathy for the thousands of federal employees who have been fired or who are terrified of what Elon Musk and Trump have planned for them.
Setting aside the legal questions regarding the authority of the President to implement wholesale firings and “terminations” of federal agencies without Congressional authorization, there has not been a clue or sign that the administration cares about the impact of the human beings involved. (Federal employees are, without exception, human beings who have feelings and who had, before January 20, 2025, an expectation of being treated with dignity and respect.)
There are hundreds of examples of people who have been fired from their federal jobs and who now face economic crises as a result. There is rent to be paid, food purchases necessary to survive, and new employment to be found. Unfortunately for the summarily fired employees, the job market is flooded with former co-workers.
In the coming months, we will read about some former civil servants becoming homeless, of divorces, and other evidence of despair. I have seen no sign that anyone working for the new administration cares. Have you?
Administration spokespeople will tell you that Americans should celebrate because a burden is being lifted from their shoulders. That message would be easier to accept if the Trump administration did not appear to enjoy the purges now underway.
Did you see Elon Musk dance with a chainsaw, celebrating the work of DOGE, at the Conservative Political Action Committee meeting? Any president other than Trump would have fired him on the spot. Instead, Trump posted that Musk is doing a great job, and he would like to see him become “more aggressive.”
The employee purge now underway is only one of the subjects prompting me to ask Trump, “Why?” The others include his controversial cabinet picks. Trump officials, without a single exception, are “not the best.”
I also wonder about increasing signs of coming “retribution” against the President’s perceived enemies. Will Attorney General Bondi, aided by FBI Director Kash Patel, work to indict former President Biden? I expect it. How about former Special Counsel Jack Smith?
What is going on with this administration? Why aren’t more of us raising our voices and asking “Why?” and urging the president to rethink what he’s doing?
One final thought: Ukraine. President Trump has switched sides in the war. He now calls Ukrainian President Zelensky a dictator and accuses him of starting the war. Trump envoys are working on making Vladimir Putin a friend of the United States. Mr. President, Putin will never be my friend.
And then there is Trump’s attempt to pressure Ukraine into surrendering half its mineral rights. I have a question for you, Mr. President: What sort of person proposes something like that? Sounds like extortion to me. Why, Mr. President, Why? What is wrong with you?
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
