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This is the first installment in a four-part series critiquing Matt Yglesias’ support for deregulating the permitting process.

This is the second installment in a four-part series critiquing Matt Yglesias’ support for deregulating the permitting process.

This is the third installment in a four-part series critiquing Matt Yglesias’ support for deregulating the permitting process.

This is the fourth installment in a four-part series critiquing Matt Yglesias’ support for deregulating the permitting process.

Musk Connections: Firm invested in SpaceX, xAI, and $400 million in Musk’s X (formerly Twitter)
Other Corporate Affiliations: Co-Founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz 
DOGE Deployment: Unofficial advisor

Musk Connections: Lawyer at Munger, Tolles & Olson, which has represented Tesla
Other Corporate Affiliations: Worked at investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey 
DOGE Deployment: Head of team at USAID, assigned to General Services Administration and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

This week, we’ll focus on how DOGE’s priorities seem to reflect Musk’s grudges and interests in a less efficient government. Trying to be thorough without being totally thorough (the reign of ignorant terror is as vast as it is deep and consequential), here are several of the most salient examples of the Trump’s administration’s prioritization of corporate interests at the expense of the public. 

Musk Connections: Director and Treasurer of America PAC
Other Corporate Affiliations: Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
DOGE Deployments: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Musk Connections: Former Twitter and Tesla Engineer 
DOGE Deployments: Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Musk Connections: Silicon Valley CEO who has been described as a “Musk ally”
Other Corporate Affiliations: CEO of Cloud Software Group; President of Broadcom Software
DOGE Deployment: Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury

Corporate Affiliations: Software engineer at Waymo; Founder of start-up Intercept
DOGE Deployment: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Corporate Affiliations: Engineer at Databricks
DOGE Deployment: Internal Revenue Service; Office of Personnel Management; General Services Administration; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; USAID

Musk Connections: Intern at SpaceX; Intern at Starlink
Other Corporate Affiliations: Thiel Fellow
DOGE Deployment: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; State Department; USAID; General Services Administration; Education Department; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Energy Department

After a week of rumors that the Trump administration was planning to implement severe cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), it happened—though the White House reportedly denied that it would. This past Friday, senior officials were informed that 5200 relatively recent hires would be fired across multiple agencies at HHS, with 1300 at the CDC specifically. 

In a recent episode of Pod Save America, the hosts argued there was a “right” and “wrong” way to reduce the size of the federal government. We wholeheartedly disagree with that perspective. What the Trump administration is doing is indeed incredibly destructive and “wrong” and ostensibly center, center left and left wing voices need to push back against the idea that there’s a “right” way to slash the federal budget and workforce. We should be pushing for more resources for non-defense agencies, not less.