One of their arguments is that seeking out fraud and corruption is a good thing, and it's about time somebody took action. It's hard to argue against that; nobody thinks fraud and corruption are good things! But is that what's happening?
The ongoing purge is wrong in two broad categories. The first is that the president, who certainly has the authority to look for inefficiencies, fraud, and corruption in federal government, and take corrective action, does not have the power to unilaterally dismantle whole sections of the government, or refuse to spend funds that have been appropriated. The second is that, despite the high minded claims to root out fraud, no fraud is being discovered, and Musk and his team are not competent to find it even if it were there. What is happening is that programs whose mission Trump and Musk disagree with are being dismantled under cover of a hunt for fraud.
Despite the claims of the so-called Unitary Executive proponents, the president doesn't have unlimited and unfettered authority over the departments and agencies that make up the federal government. Every department and agency of the United States government has been created by an act of Congress, and are funded by appropriations approved by Congress. These actions have the force of law and come about the same way any other law does: by being passed by a majority of both houses of Congress and signed by the president. Article II Section 3 of the Constitution directs that the president "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". That includes keeping Congressionally created departments and agencies up and running.
Federal agencies exist to turn laws into reality. A bill might be passed to provide aid to a certain country. Somebody has to secure that aid, pay for it, arrange for transport to the target country, and account for it. Another bill could create penalties for some specified action. How will those penalties be enforced? How will violations be tracked? Often the scope of a Congressional action is so large that interpretation on the part of the regulatory agency is necessary. The president, as titular head of the executive branch can direct an agency's priorities, does not have the authority to eliminate that agency or refuse to spend appropriated funds.
A properly conducted audit requires an auditor; someone who understands the flow of money through an organization. Additionally, the auditor should have an understanding of the laws governing the organization that is being audited. Real audits take time when done right. Red flags spur further investigation, not a knee-jerk assumption that something shady is being perpetrated. While I am not an auditor, I work with auditors and am aware of many audits that have taken years to complete. What is going on with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is not an audit. What it is, is a bunch of pimply faced computer geeks running loose, without security clearance, doing quick and dirty searches for what they think are suspicious transactions. Or maybe not even that. What has come out so far is not fraud or corruption - at least no one has been charged with fraud or corruption - but is a search for programs within the agencies that rightists loathe - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices as well as any program that protects consumers.
Thousands of federal employees are being fired without cause, with little thought given to how important those jobs are. Thousands of IRS employees are let go during tax season; the team who oversees our nuclear arsenal were fired, until it was realized they were essential but couldn't be reached because their contact information was no longer available. Employees are being locked out of their computer access and their physical offices on the authority of a "department" that didn't exist less than a month ago.
I started this article by mentioning the enthusiasm with which the Trump Cult is celebrating what their cult leader is doing. In the months before the election the two biggest reasons that I saw given for voting for Trump were the economy and immigration. These were reasonable, but in my opinion, mistaken, rationales for supporting Trump. Even though inflation is caused by many factors with little influence by whoever the president is, many voters will always blame the president for a bad economy. And while immigration was not handled well by Biden, he could be forgiven for wanting to take action with Congress, instead of by EO. The Trump Cult literally believed that their Messiah would reverse inflation and bring prices back down. I may have missed it, but I don't recall people clamoring for the government to be dismantled. In fact, Project 2025, which does call for a deconstruction of the administrative state, was disavowed by Trump. But now, since dismantling the government is what Trump is doing, his cult has decided that dismantling the government is what they wanted all along, and are completely fine with his illegal, unconstitutional, power grab.
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