DOGE Threatens Democracy

 

By Mildred Robertson

Let’s start this conversation by discussing what DOGE is and is not.

Trump established The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by Executive Order on January 20, 2025. It is supposed to modernize federal technology and software for maximum government efficiency. Instead, DOGE has taken a chainsaw to government agencies by decimating the workforce, shutting down offices, eliminating or reducing resources, and generally wreaking havoc throughout the federal government.

Many say an agency such as DOGE would need congressional approval. However, Trump created this entity through an Executive Order. He has no authority to allocate funds, so where does this agency get its resources? That power belongs to Congress.

While they appear not to have legal authority to do so, I don’t see it as bad that they purged the social security database of individuals no longer alive.  However, saying those people were actively being paid has been proven to be a lie. If a name is listed on a payroll account but that person is not receiving payment, then that is NOT government waste. An apt comparison would be if you found a match in a drawer as you cleaned the house, it would not mean the house is on fire. Accordingly, you cannot say you are recouping government funds when none are being spent. You are simply cleaning the database. 

That is what DOGE has done with social security. They have found some inefficiencies, but not widespread fraud or corruption. Are there individuals receiving social security payments to which they are not entitled? I am sure there are. A system as big as Social Security will likely have some discrepancies. It is good to look for and eliminate those discrepancies. But to trash the system that millions of Americans have paid into and rely on to secure their retirement is insanity. 

It also appears that DOGE has identified payees whom they claim are dead, who are alive and well, and dependent upon those payments to live. So, mistakes happen, right? Further, even if DOGE were more competent and efficient than the agencies under attack, it has no authority to shutter them.  Agencies established by Congress cannot be eliminated by the stroke of a pen. Federal workers cannot be summarily dismissed without following personnel procedures.  And, unelected officials cannot enact policies and procedures for the federal government.

At the end of the day, we will know whether our constitution is sufficient to maintain our freedom. We will see whether DOGE will be allowed to freely move forward, swinging its chainsaw throughout the federal government. We will see whether Congress and the judiciary will withstand the onslaught of a rouge administration.

If they do not, whether millions of Americans receive their unemployment benefits will be the least of our worries.