Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by quantified 502 days ago
Huh? This isn't a corporation, nothing about corporate change of control applies.

Political, not civil, servants taking over these systems without any oversight is truly brazen. Sounds like you're saying that since there wasn't a prior act of Congress declaring this illegal, it's just whining. Please clarify.

You're right that oversight would be influenced by the party in power. Generally, the inspectors general would be relatively independent but guess what, they all got sacked just a few days ago. And Republican congresspeople behave as if they represent the president, not their constituents. The system functioned with some level of decorum before, but this looks like war.

2 comments

I think this is a case where it’s becoming clear that some US laws were vague and there always needed to be some specification. I mean, what does checks and balances mean? How do you execute it? By sheer force of will apparently.
The actions that are being taken by Trump, Musk and co is normal in both governmental and corporate organisations when a change of control occurs.

Oversight in these systems tends to be illusory, because for the executive branch to function it fundamnetally needs to have the authority to make the decisions that are currently being made.

The Democrats have, broadly speaking, not cared much for oversight when they were in power, so suddenly caring about it now that republicans are in power comes across as, and probably is, just them being sore losers.

No, the US has been able to have a clean transfer of power without sending in random goons who won't identify themselves & who download key/secure OPM data onto random hard drives & leave with it.

This is all batshit insanity, an assault on democracy.

They aren't random goons.

They are official government employees / advisors, peforming a task within their remit.

Clearly your framing is driven by ideological hatred, but there's nothing about this that isn't above board.

> Clearly your framing is driven by ideological hatred

Is that the current trope in American political discourse? If someone points out there are brazen acts which haven't happened before you just tack the label "ideological hatred" or "partisan" and think that covers all ground?

They are random goons, DOGE wasn't signed into existence by Congress, the "officer" in charge of DOGE has not been through the process of confirmation by Congress/Senate. Those people are getting access to the Treasury without any checks and balances process.

I cannot believe that Americans are falling for this, you were supposed to fight against the tyranny of highly-concentrated power in a single person's hand and yet now it's ok to do it because it's a team you support? This is all so stupid to watch from the outside, a bizarro-world of hot takes without any regards to civics, government function, nor democratic distribution of power across government branches.

What is infuriating is that any argument against it is then met by some twist of an ad hominem boiling down to "this is partisanship/ideological hatred". It's just all so, so stupid.

Edit: also forgot, I don't think anyone like you shouting "partisan" or "ideology" has ever heard about "The Network State", I recommend going through it to see the playbook you are all participating in.

The feds can screech all they want. The people have spoken. Their jobs won't be missed. That the feds that tyrannically oppress the people hate this so much is some of the strongest evidence DOGE might actually get something done.

It is time for their civics lesson, not ours. Hopefully they can learn to code.

This vitriol won't drive much forward, you are way too emotional to even consider the consequences of the "wreck everything policy".

It's more akin to Mao, if you like that then best of luck.