First, Do No Harm: A Better Path for Government Reform
DOGE’s slash-and-burn tactics might boost “efficiency,” but they endanger lives and threaten vital public services.
What we're thinking about
"How is what DOGE is doing making things more efficient?" is a question we get a lot. They ask earnestly like we have a magical answer that current events will make this all make sense to reasonable people.
DOGE is trying to improve efficiency by reducing staff, programs, and even agencies to the bare minimum required. Determining which things to cut takes time they are unwilling to spend, so they are taking a trial-and-error approach. DOGE will continue making cuts until things stop working, then they plan to do just enough to get things working again.
The problem with this approach is that things need to fail in order to know how much to cut. In a private company, this would mean a temporary impact to profits that the company could absorb. When we're talking about public services, these failures directly impact the public. Optimizing international aid this way has resulted in countless deaths when vital medication was withheld. Optimizing the CDC and FDA this way leaves us vulnerable to a public health crisis that will endanger ourselves and our children. The cost of using this approach to deliver government efficiency is enduring failures of critical government services that should not be allowed to fail.
We can reform our government to better serve the people without resorting to DOGE's methods. We don't need to endanger the public to reduce waste. Doctors take an oath to "first, do no harm." That doesn't prevent them from making surgical incisions or giving us powerful medicine, but it requires careful consideration before they put our lives at risk. Safe government reform must start with the understanding that these services should not be allowed to fail. Cuts should be considered with a surgeon's precision, not a horror movie's chainsaw. What DOGE is doing may improve efficiency, but at a staggering cost to us and those we care for.
What we're reading, watching, and listening to
Someone reminded us of this video from Cracked.com from eight years ago and we are so hoping they will reveal it was all just a prank any minute now.
What's got us worked up
So many things. We were pretty sure this was going to be about the proposed autism registry though that is currently being walked back (more on that below) so instead...
Today we got word the FBI arrested state court judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee and charged her with obstruction of justice. (Alternate link) The administration going after a judge like this smacks of pure naked authoritarianism and needs to be regarded as such. Even more troubling is the now deleted post on Twitter from Kash Patel that makes it sound like they caught Kingpin. Republican lawmakers are crowing about this and stating among other things that "judges are not supposed to write the law, and they certainly aren't above it" (Link) but seem to have no issue with Justice Alito throwing out years of prior case law and stare decisis and referring back to ancient English legal opinions from Matthew Hale to strip reproductive rights away from women and rewriting law in the process. The same Matthew Hale, by the way, said marital rape wasn't a thing. But whatever.
What's bringing us joy
There's more and more evidence that protesting and pushback works. We heard early this week that NIH and HHS was planning to create a registry for people with autism and include government data in it. It wasn't clear whether people would be able to opt in or opt out. Nothing about it was clear, but the available information was scary.
Yesterday, we learned that there won't be a registry. We still need to monitor this, but right now, it's clear our voices matter.
About this newsletter
This newsletter is posted by the We the Builders team and will be published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We stand for an effective government that serves its people and we won't rest until the government is rebuilt, and built better.