[wufufufu]

There are no clear details about what DOGE will alter. All the information we have so far amounts to outrage-bait one-liners. Where and how are they deciding to make cuts, and which agencies are they planning to change? Cutting is not intrinsically a good or bad idea, but everything I’ve read about this so far makes DOGE seem anti-intellectual.

[nickthegreek]

They wont alter anything, as they are a presidential commission and not a department of the government.

[dpkonofa]

You say this as if Trump will also not be in control of both sides of Congress. All it takes to make this a department of the government is a vote in Congress.

[sundaeofshock]

And most of the members of congress (all of the house, 1/3 of the senate)will be up for election in 2 years. Let’s see if they are up for cutting social security and medicare when they have to face the voters just two years later.

[red-iron-pine]

two years is long enough to make deep cuts.

there will be no big collapse, no big catastrophe. there won't be a 1991 Berlin Wall event.

things will just get shittier and more expensive, and people will go out less, buy less, travel less, have fewer kids, etc.

[sundaeofshock]

Let’s break this down. Payments on the debt (10% of budget) are already off the table. SS, Health Insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, etc) and defense represent about 58% of the budget. If we eliminate everything else, we are going after things like welfare, the VA, and veterans benefits, as well as subsidies to a variety of businesses. Bottom line, even if there wasn’t an economic impact, there will be some very pissed-off powerful constituents.

At the end of the day, this whole process shows that Musk and Ramaswamy are clowns.

[relaxatorium]

Unless I have missed something (always a real possibility to be fair) there are also no clear details about what DOGE is, what its powers or lack thereof are, what its staffing is, or what its actual processes will be.

We’ll find out more when the actual Trump administration starts I guess, but so far it seems like a broad concept that two guys can use for tweets.

[alephnerd]

> there are also no clear details about what DOGE is, what its powers or lack thereof are

It's (edit: going to be after Innauguration Day) a Presidential Task Force

Presidential Task Forces have zero power, as they can only give recommendations.

All this hyperventilating over DOGE is distracting from actual issues to worry about - like the upcoming showdown between Senate GOP Leadership and the Executive Branch over a number of confirmations.

[dpkonofa]

>All this hyperventilating over DOGE is distracting from actual issues to worry about

It's not hyperventilating. It may start as a task force but it can easily and quickly be upgraded to a full-on department of the federal government by Congress.

[alephnerd]

> it can easily and quickly be upgraded to a full-on department

It cannot easily be converted. The house margin is razor thin now that Gaetz and Stefanik gave up their seats for nominations, and filibuster-able.

And Senate leadership is status quo GOP with Sen Thune as Senate Majorty leader, and his allies Grassley and Cornyn, as well as shakey Senators like Collin and Murkowski reducing that majority, and the Senate is still filibuster-able as well.

And given the amount of controversy over a number of Secretary choices, it'll take 6-9 months alone just to go through the Senate Confirmation backlog.

[dpkonofa]

Where were you for the last 8 years? If there's one thing the GOP is great at, it's coalescing around votes. Even with the thin margins, there are ways for them to achieve their goals quickly. I think you're not giving them enough credit here...

[alephnerd]

> Where were you for the last 8 years

Partaking in the revolving door (early-mid Obama 2 era) and chatting with friends of mine who still work on the Hill about these kinds of topics.

> Even with the thin margins, there are ways for them to achieve their goals quickly.

What ways? Thin margins BY DEFAULT slow everything down. The house is functionally split 218-215 now that Gaetz and Stefanik have been nominated.

Just 3 defection means House votes fail, and managing a caucus is DIFFICULT - especially given how split the GOP is.

[atmavatar]

It is only the Senate which has the filibuster, and it merely exists as a Senate rule. It can be removed with a simple majority vote, though I believe rule changes must occur at the beginning of the new Congress.

For example, SR 15 in the 113th Congress ultimately removed the filibuster for judicial appointments (see: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-resoluti...).

That may be a moot point with regard to cabinet positions should the incoming Republican Senate go along with Trump's request for recess appointments, though.

[dragonwriter]

> It is only the Senate which has the filibuster, and it merely exists as a Senate rule. It can be removed with a simple majority vote, though I believe rule changes must occur at the beginning of the new Congress.

Rule changes can occur any time, but except for the initial adoption of the rules by a majority vote by each House at the opening of each Congress are, themselves, subject to the rules adopted by that House for that Congress, which may impose additional process.

[alephnerd]

House can de facto filibuster in the sense that a 3 rep majority will inevitably lead to clashes internally, as every rep in the GOP absolutely will use this as an excuse to get concessions. This happened everytime this happens.

> It can be removed with a simple majority vote

It absolutely can, but both sides steer away from doing so due to situations like this - either party inevitably becomes the minority as some point in the Senate, so Senate leadership in both parties prefer to maintain it.

> That may be a moot point with regard to cabinet positions should the incoming Republican Senate go along with Trump's request for recess appointments, though

And that's my point. With Thune as Senate majority leader, Recess Appointments are basically moot.

The whole point of Recess Appointments is to undermine the power of the Senate, which much of the Senate obviously opposes.

[dragonwriter]

> It's a Presidential Task Force

It can't be a Presidential Task Force in the present tense because Trump isn’t President and Biden didn't establish it.

[alephnerd]

You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.

[015a]

Well, its a department that literally does not exist yet because the regime that wants to build it isn't in power yet. So, maybe have a bit of patience before breaking out the name-calling.

[dragonwriter]

I think DOGE does exist, it just is a non-government entity advising the incoming administration with a deceptive name that makes it sound like a government agency rather than a privileged private lobbying group.

[MichaelZuo]

Aren’t there already millions of ‘non-government entities’ directly advising every administration, or indirectly advising the advisors, etc…?

[dragonwriter]

Most of them aren't named like government entities, given a verified-government-entity greycheck on Twitter, have their leadership announced by the incoming President elect, recruit on the explicit premise of being part of Administration policy, and have public confusion as to whether they are a government department or something else.

[MichaelZuo]

You’ve listed indicators that suggests it has a higher probability of becoming a formalized office of some kind, higher likelihood that key decision makers truly believe in establishing it, etc.

Therefore…?