Trump's Department of Make Believe
Meanwhile, Iowa's "watchdogs" Senators Grassley & Enrst nap soundly
As long as President Trump is changing the names of things - the actual “Gulf of Mexico” for example, is now, supposedly, by his edict, the “Gulf of America.” - I have a suggestion for him.
Why not change the name of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the more accurate “Department of Make Believe?” (DOMB; pronounced “dumb.”)
For the record:
There is no Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It does not exist. Federal departments are created by legislation approved by Congress. No such department has been created by Congress. Nor does Trump’s “Department of Make Believe” have enough people involved in its work to come close to constituting a department. At best, Elon Musk and his little band of barely “twenty somethings” might constitute a working group or task force. Nothing more.
Elon Musk is conducting no audits of anything.
His non-existent auditors are not finding “millions and billions “ of federal waste, fraud and abuse.
Instead, their main mission appears to be looting the gold mine of personal data, Social Security and individual and organizational bank account numbers held by the federal government.
Seriously.
Do you honestly believe that Elon Musk and his non-auditor computer geeks could have seriously and competently “audited” billions of dollars in government spending in numerous federal departments in just a week or two?
Yet that is the lie that Musk and Trump are telling; and that - no surprise here, millions of MAGA Kool-Aid drinkers are believing and repeating across social media and at coffee shops throughout America.
Fox, which admitted in court that it is entertainment - not news - is also all over the story about Musk’s imaginary audits, and gargantuan audit “findings,” too, of course.
Again, no audits have taken place. It is a lie to say that any have.
What Musk and company are up to instead, is - armed with an abundance of ignorance, incompetence and malice - wrecking and dismantling the federal government to sell for parts. They know nothing about what they are tearing apart, the good accomplished by what they are demolishing, or the danger that will be unleashed when their demolition work is complete.
Musk and his boys - Trump, too, for that matter - have no regard or understanding for the damage they are doing.
Iowans in Congress are not innocent bystanders in this ignorance and mayhem.
On Monday, February 3, Musk - along with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) spoke on a midnight phone call on what used to be called Twitter before Musk bought it and tanked it. In it, he called for “wholesale removal of regulations.”
“Regulations, basically, should be default gone,” Musk said. “Not default there, default gone. And if it turns out that we missed the mark on a regulation, we can always add it back in,” he said, adding that no president has ever had the opportunity to do that before, and none will likely ever have it again.
“It’s now or never,” he said.
Senator Ernst was on the call when Musk said that. One might expect her to object when she heard what is probably the stupidest statement ever uttered in Washington, DC.
But she did not.
Instead, she echoed Musk!
“Now or never,” she repeated.
I’m not sure how much time I need to spend on just how absurd - or if acted upon, how dangerous - Musk’s statement and Ernst’s echo of it really are - but I will note they would take us back to the wild days of snake oil salesmen peddling untested and unverified medicines, if followed.
Also:
Financial and farm markets would be unfettered by rules to keep them honest;
Corporations would have their way - any way they wish - with citizens, stockholders and customers;
Workers would have little or no worker safety protections at the federal level.
Private and personal financial information held by the federal government would be unprotected;
No sanitation or food adulteration rules would require livestock slaughter facilities - beef, pork, and poultry - to protect the nation’s food supply. Processing facilities would face no inspections to ensure safe and sanitary operations.
The big grain exporting companies would be free to fill a third or more of a cargo ship’s hold carrying grain exports abroad with dirt, gravel, and debris. There would be no regulations to prevent padding grain shipments with junk to fatten corporate profits.
No one would have to prove medical equipment, prescription drugs, or even medical treatments were likely to work - much less would do no harm - because the regulations that ensure all that would be gone.
This list is just the tip - of the tip - of the tip of the iceberg. What damage and how many injuries and deaths would have to happen before Musk and his minions would finally figure out that they had “missed the mark” on a regulation and get it back on the books? If they cared enough to put it back on the books.
If the integrity of the markets can’t be assured, if the quality and safety of farm product can’t be guaranteed, then those markets and the economy collapse.
But, yes. “Now or never,” says Senator Ernst. Let’s do it.
Her Iowa colleague in the Senate, Chuck Grassley has been just as useless.
When Musk and Trump illegally fired the Inspector Generals (IGs) - the in house, around the clock watchdogs working to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in 17 federal agencies - Grassley’s response couldn’t have been more meek.
Time was, Grassley used to be a watchdog, himself.
Those days are long, long gone.
This time, faced with an all out assault on the Inspector Generals - mass, illegal firings of 17 IGs - Grassley barely roused himself from his slumber to say that they weren’t immune from being fired for cause, but he’d like to know why Trump thought it necessary to fire them.
That’s pretty much it.
No mention that the firings were blatantly against the law since Congress had not been notified 30 days before they took place nor given an explanation for why even one of them was being fired, much less 17.
Just a meek, “Hey, if you get a minute could you tell me why you did it,” mumble.
As Trump and Musk lost court case after court case in the days and weeks that followed their string of unconstitutional and illegal actions to close agencies and departments they have no authority to close, to rip rights out of the U.S. Constitution without the authority to do so, and to fire thousands of federal workers necessary to competently pursue agency and department missions as directed by Congress, Grassley sends letters that defend Musk without question to Iowans who write to protest Musk’s role and action.
He explains that it is his “understanding” that Musk’s and Trump’s illegalities are nothing to worry about.
His “understanding???”
Chuck Grassley is the the senior Republican Senator and the longest serving member of the United States Senate. He’s supposed to be on top of this stuff. He’s supposed to know what’s going on, and especially, he is supposed to care when what’s going on is unconstitutional and/or illegal.
He does not.
He’s supposed to speak up and try to stop it. That is his job.
He does not.
What he does is this: he hands out unsupported assurances about Elon Musk.
Grassley claims in his letters that Musk wouldn’t be involved in any conflicts of interests. You know. We can trust him. That’s probably the most absurd claim of all.
This would be the same Elon Musk whose companies were under investigation by five Inspector Generals Trump fired in Trump’s “IG Massacre” which he followed by putting Musk in charge of finding waste and fraud in their agencies. Five IGs who were on Musk’s trail when they were fired were, in effect, replaced by Musk.
He’s also one of the federal government’s biggest contractors. As such, it sounds like he might be a good place to begin looking for waste, fraud and abuse.
But naw, no need to worry about or keep an eye on Elon Musk.
This would be the same Elon Musk, by the way, who essentially bought his post as the head of the imaginary “Department of Make Believe” with a $250 million contribution to Trump’s campaign.
The 34 times convicted felon and serial grifter - who is now, inexplicably, the President of the United States again - can also be trusted apparently. No need for Congress to do its constitutionally mandated job of oversight of the executive branch.
Musk and Trump are on it.
Grassley’s and Ernst’s subservience to Musk and Trump, and apparent fear of MAGA voters, are embarrassing. Both need to wake up from their oversight naps and do their jobs.
WEEKLY OVERDUE FARM BILL TICKER - 504 DAYS: The number of days that have passed since the 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30, 2023, without Congress passing a new one. (Total days as of Sunday, 02/16/2025).
Two thirds of Iowa’s congressional delegation serves on the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture Committees: Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) in the Senate; and Reps. Zach Nunn (R-3rd IA) and Randy Feenstra (R-4th) in the House and Representatives
The legislation sets national farm policy. It expired 504 days ago, and was last updated in 2018.
504 days without a new Farm Bill after the old one expired is an important milestone marking unprecedented failure by Congress - and the Iowans who serve on the Agriculture Committees in the House and Senate.
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You are exactly right about our so-called senators, who gave up critical thinking in their jobs a long time ago. I am in receipt of one of Senator Grassley’s letters of lies and excuses. I have had no response of any kind from Senator Ernst. Your column is so helpful in naming what they are dismantling, and I will use it in making my phone calls and responding to whatever missives I receive.
Joyce Vance suggested yesterday that we stay apprised of national news and involve ourselves locally. Your writing gives me tools to do that. Thank you, Barry. As Joyce says—We’re in this together.
Department Using Make Believe