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Posts tagged ‘Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’

Harvard Polling: Majority Supports DOGE Measures to Reduce the Size of Government


By: Jonathan Turley | February 25, 2025

Read more at https://jonathanturley.org/2025/02/25/harvard-polling-majority-supports-doge-measures-to-reduce-the-size-of-government/

As the courts hash out the legalities of the orders supporting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the public appears to support the effort despite the almost universal condemnations in the media. Despite the prediction from James Carville that the Trump Administration will collapse within 30 days, a recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shows that most citizens support the cutting of government spending and size. While the courts must rule on the legal basis for these executive orders, the polling shows continued support for both Trump and his agenda after the election.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) also has declared that “remorse” was growing among voters who were souring against the Trump Administration. Yet, the Harvard poll shows Trump with a 50% approval rating, (43% expressing disapproval). That is consistent with the RealClearPolitics polling average, giving Trump a 49.3% approval rating.

What was interesting amid the ongoing judicial and legislative fight is that 83% of voters preferred cutting government spending to raising taxes. Some 77% also supported a broad review of government spending. A massive 70% believe government spending is rife with waste and fraud and 69% support cutting spending by $1 trillion. Sixty percent of voters said that DOGE is carrying out the need of the government to make significant cuts.

Once again, our courts are designed to resist popular demands when they contravene legal or constitutional authorities. However, courts are also sensitive to what is called the “countermajoritarian difficulty.” As Alexander Bickel discussed in his 1962 book, The Least Dangerous Branch, the courts straddle this line between protecting constitutional values and not becoming a type of super-legislature. The political question doctrine and other judicial rules are designed to remove federal judges from making policy or political judgments.

Voters are allowed to bring about significant, even radical, changes in government policies and programs. They are allowed to elect “change agents” to use existing powers to achieve those goals.

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Political

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Watch: Harris Faulkner Blasts Democrat: ‘Are You Rooting Against America?’


By: Daphne Moon | February 20, 2025

Read more at https://thepatriotchronicles.com/news-for-you/watch-harris-faulkner-blasts-democrat-are-you-rooting-against-america/

Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner engaged in a heated discussion with former New York Democratic State Senator David Carlucci on Wednesday, probing whether his criticisms of President Donald Trump indicated he was “rooting against” America. Carlucci had earlier criticized Trump’s establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to recruit new federal employees, oversee wasteful spending, and halt several programs. When Carlucci suggested that Republicans might “crash” the country after “begging” for control over the government, Faulkner pressed him hard.

Challenging his stance, Faulkner asked, “You’re not rooting for America not to win, are you? You’re not rooting against the country? Because that’s what it sounds like. Is that what you are doing?” In response, Carlucci insisted, “No, absolutely not!” He then attempted to elaborate but was cut short by Faulkner, who remarked, “But you want the leader that the majority just elected to fail.”

Since assuming office, Trump has signed numerous executive orders focusing on crucial issues such as illegal immigration, regulatory cuts, and ending federal involvement in diversity initiatives and energy production. While some federal judges have impeded Trump’s executive actions regarding birthright citizenship, biological male inmates in women’s prisons, and the suspension of foreign aid programs, his administration continues to push forward.

Carlucci, although denying he was rooting against the country, expressed skepticism about Trump’s effectiveness. “No! Absolutely not! I hope the president does well, but he has only done announcements,” he stated, arguing that no tangible results had materialized. “There hasn’t been cost savings, and his budget proposal that’s coming up will prove that. There might be tax cuts for the wealthiest but layoffs for Americans.” Trump’s budget endorsements reflect his commitment to reducing federal spending while offering tax relief, evident in the House proposal he backed on Wednesday.

Highlighting the impact of Trump’s immigration policies, Faulkner countered Carlucci by emphasizing, “People on the left are pushing, saying no, no, no, we want to see the receipts of what is being done with DOGE for instance. Go to the border. Look at what the president has already done there. It has dwindled to a trickle which means illegals can’t get in.” The Trump administration reported an 85% drop in illegal immigration during the first 11 days of his tenure, demonstrating the success of his robust policies in securing the nation’s borders.

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Such measures underscore Trump’s dedication to America’s prosperity and security—a vision that aligns with his campaign promises to abolish certain taxes and make permanent the tax cuts from 2017, while reducing the burden of federal expenditures.

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Political

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Elon Musk describes limestone mine used for processing federal workers’ retirement papers: ‘Like a time warp’


By Stephen Sorace Fox News | Published February 12, 2025, 11:26am EST

Read more at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/elon-musk-describes-limestone-mine-used-processing-federal-workers-retirement-papers-like-time-warp

Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was looking into a limestone mine in Pennsylvania, where the cost-cutting organization says federal employee retirements are processed manually using a system that could take months. Musk told reporters about the mine on Tuesday during an appearance with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, as the president prepared to sign an executive order concerning the billionaire’s work leading DOGE.

“And then we’re told this is actually, I think, a great anecdote, because we’re told the most number of people that could retire possibly in a month is 10,000,” Musk said.

“We’re like, well, what? Why is that? Well, because all the retirement paperwork is manual on paper,” he continued. “It’s manually calculated and written down on a piece of paper. Then it goes down to mine and like, what do you mean, a mine?”

HOUSE EXPECTS FIRST DOGE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING TO BE ‘FULL-ON COMBAT’

limestone mine in Pennsylvania
This photo posted by DOGE on Feb. 11, 2025, shows the old limestone mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania, where the organization says about 700 workers operate more than 230 feet underground to process about 10,000 federal retirement applications per month. (DOGE/X)

DOGE wrote on X that an old limestone mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh, is where about 700 workers operate more than 230 feet underground to process about 10,000 federal retirement applications per month.

The applications are processed by hand using paper and are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes, DOGE said.

walls lined with filing boxes and shelves
This photo posted by DOGE on Feb. 11, 2025, shows shelving and cardboard boxes which DODGE says workers at the underground mine facility use to store federal worker retirement papers. (DOGE/X)

The Washington Post described the facility as a “sinkhole of bureaucracy” in a 2014 article. At the time, the report said the total spending on the retirement system was $55.8 million. 

Multiple attempts to digitize the system have been made since 1987, according to the report. Each attempt largely failed and was eventually scrapped, with reported costs totaling over $130 million.

DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’

Musk said the facility was started in 1955 and looks “like a time warp.” He noted the slow processing speed, which DOGE says can take multiple months.

Elon Musk
Elon Musk mentioned the limestone mine to reporters during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“And then the speed, the limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move, determines how many people can retire from the federal government,” Musk said. “And the elevator breaks down and sometimes, and then you can’t, nobody can retire. Doesn’t that sound crazy?”

Musk said the flawed system of “carrying manila envelopes to, you know, boxes in a mine shaft” could be remedied with “practically anything else.”

“That’s an example, like at a high level, if you say like, how do we increase prosperity is we get people to shift from roles that are low to negative productivity to high productivity roles,” he said.

In recent weeks, Democrats have largely criticized the work of Musk and DOGE to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending and trim the more than 2 million-person federal workforce.

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Musk has pushed back, telling reporters Tuesday that “the people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get.” 

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corruption, Political

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