Of the many important actions President Trump has taken since reclaiming the Oval Office last month, sealing the borders and rounding up criminal illegal aliens for Gitmo prison cells and deportation are the most important.
They go to the heart of the very things that make a country a country, from national security to street crime.
But Trump’s decision to let Elon Musk and his geek squads go through the federal budget with a fine tooth comb could turn out to be just as consequential.
Restoring fiscal sanity is essential to restoring public trust in government, and a correlation is clear.
For decades, trust in government has been plummeting as fast as spending has climbed because much of the added spending is either stolen or wasted.
The fury of taxpayers who see their money enriching thieves or squandered leads to resentment and resistance.
Both parties are guilty, and nothing separates the rulers from the ruled more than so-called public servants living beyond their means and passing the inflated tab to taxpayers.
It can’t go on because the imbalance has reached a crucial level, which is why Trump pledged during the campaign to have Musk lead the Department of Government Efficiency.
Many candidates have made similar promises, so I regarded it as a good talking point that would yield some low-hanging fruit, but doubted how much impact it would ultimately have.
No time to ‘waste’
Count me as happily surprised.
The partnership between Trump and Musk is proving to be a union of geniuses determined to get big things done for America.
They are just out of the starting gate and already are delivering dividends for taxpayers and the common good.
The first target, the US Agency for International Development, proved to be such a cesspool of waste and leftist activism that it makes a slam dunk case for similar probes throughout government.
Musk’s discoveries of USAID spending on things such as DEI programs and transgender events around the world, along with what amounts to subsidies for favored media outlets at home, led Trump to talk of closing the agency and transferring its good programs and staff into the State Department.
It has 10,000 employees, most of whom likely will be put on leave, and its own Washington headquarters building.
On Friday, Trump had the agency’s name removed from the exterior.
Although designed to bolster American policies and interests around the world, and reportedly serve as a CIA hideout, USAID became what Secretary of State Marco Rubio derides as a “global charity,” where employees give away gobs of money with little regard for benefits to the US.
Naturally, the left and most of the media responded with hysterical prophecies about the sky falling. Ho hum.
The fiction that everything government does is essential to life as we know it is how the size and cost got so bloated.
One result of the takedown is that Musk is suddenly more hated than Trump, with columnist Rich Lowry calling it Musk Derangement Syndrome.
It’s a badge of honor.
The man from Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink and the owner of X, a true free-speech platform, is volunteering his time and infectious energy to lay waste to the inner sanctum of the permanent government.
And he’s just getting started.
Asked Friday if he would let Musk see the books of other agencies, Trump said yes, adding, “The Pentagon, education, just about everything.”
Speaking during his press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the president added, “There could be areas that we won’t but I think everything’s fair game.”
Bravo!
The necessity is obvious: Despite spending $7 trillion in the last fiscal year, the government only had revenues of $5.2 trillion, forcing it to borrow nearly $1.9 trillion to plug the gap.
That’s how the debt now tops $30 trillion.
Naturally, Democrats in Washington and across the country are crazed about stopping Musk.
Their threatening and profane language, noisy protests and scores of lawsuits can mean only one thing: The Musketeers are hitting a nerve.
A fundraising pitch from a group supporting Dem state legislative candidates goes so far as to declare that Trump and Musk could “want to cause mass destruction in the states.”
It’s not surprising Dems would try to shield the federal budget because they, more than most Republicans, back big government.
Their support in many districts grows out of the expansive programs Washington funds.
‘Closing’ statements
That said, the ferocity of their attacks is shocking.
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley called Musk “a Nazi nepo baby” and “a Godless, lawless billionaire who no one elected.”
Another (yawn) pledged to file impeachment papers against Trump, and some demanded the public shut down Washington.
In the most cringe-worthy scene, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held hands with wacky California Rep. Maxine Waters to lead a chorus of “We will win, we will win.”
Win what — the battle to protect the waste and theft of taxpayer money?
The Department of Education is next on Trump’s chopping block.
He told his nominee for the Cabinet post of secretary, Linda McMahon, that her job is to turn out the lights and shift funds and responsibilities back to the states.
“I want her to put herself out of a job,” the president said recently.
The prospect led Waters to lead 30 other Dems and a few rabble-rousers to try to enter the agency’s headquarters to confront the acting secretary.
They never got inside because a bored-looking security official repeatedly told them the building was closed.
They tried a version of the elites’ threat of “Do you know who I am?” and some waved congressional ID cards, but the guard wasn’t impressed and refused to budge.
Give that man a raise!
Blue cities & states should unleash DOGE
The stakes of what Trump and Musk are doing extend well beyond Washington.
The patterns of waste and corruption, and the exorbitant level of taxes necessary to fund them, are wrecking confidence in many state and local governments, too, and causing large interior migrations to lower-tax areas.
New Yorkers should imagine the benefits if Albany and City Hall unleashed a Department of Government Efficiency on their budgets.
Talk about a gold mine!
It’s an idea Republicans and sensible Dems ought to run with in every blue city and state.
A deep dive into government to learn how much money is being squandered on leftist political pork could be the spark conservatives and moderates need to start winning elections in New York and elsewhere.
The key, as Trump and Musk are showing, is to get techies to go through budget documents and reveal where the money is going and why.
Often the ridiculousness will be instantly apparent, proving again that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
The phrase comes from the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who reportedly first used it in 1913.
It’s as true today as it was then, and Republicans must put it to good use across America.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
