A hundred years from now, historians may refer to this time as "The Age of Overreaction." We just concluded the most remarkable American election in history, during which Democrats lost their minds. All sense of proportion and rationality disappeared in a tsunami of Trump hate.
I thought that with Trump in office, things might revert to just good, old-fashioned politicking. That is not the case. If anything, the hysteria has gotten worse.
Federal workers are "stunned." "Like a tornado hit," claim federal employees. "Anger chaos, and confusion" among workers says Associated Press.
Time Magazine claims that federal workers are "Baffled and Angry." And this particular headline may have topped them all.
"DOGE vs. the NIH: Say goodbye to the greatest engine of biomedical research ever created," warns Science-based Medicine.
What's the actual body count for Musk and Trump in trying to trim some fat from the government workforce?
Well, so far approximately 280 workers in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) roles have been axed. Some 9,000 employees have been affected by the dismantling of their agencies. About 75,000 workers have voluntarily signed up for the federal worker buyouts offered—so about 3 percent of the civilian workforce—per a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management.
The unions that represent federal workers have warned would-be quitters that the buyout offers might not be trustworthy and have also started filing lawsuits against the administration—somewhat odd behavior given that the buyouts provide pay through September and the alternative might just be getting axed altogether. (U.S. District Judge George O'Toole ruled yesterday that the unions did not have standing to bring the suit, so the buyouts resumed following the lifting of the pause.)
Musk reports that $1 billion worth of Education Department contracts have been canceled, including $101 million worth of DEI-related grants. The Institute of Education Sciences, which conducts research on things like student achievement and school safety, has been obliterated. Sen. Patty Murray (D–Wash.), a former preschool teacher, said Musk was "taking a wrecking ball to high-quality research and basic data we need to improve our public schools. Cutting off these investments after the contract has already been inked is the definition of wasteful."
There are other potential cuts as well. Elon Musk wants to fire most of the 200,000 probationary workers currently in the government. The reason for this is not necessarily the savings it will bring but rather that the probationary employees can be fired without cause. Off with their heads!
The myth that all this "high-quality research" will be lost or not performed is a bureaucratic gambit. The spending must be justified. My job must be justified. Ergo, the research I'm doing is "high quality."
Just because the data has been tracked doesn't mean school districts actually course correct. Consider the literacy crisis: on-grade-level reading has been in steep decline in the country—but it's gotten so bad in part because it's taken parents and teachers a while to wise up to issues with the "balanced literacy" curriculum model vs. phonics-based instruction. A whole generation of children has been harmed by this, and the crisis could've ostensibly been averted sooner had federal, state, and local governments had their acts together.
First, the teachers denied there was even a literacy problem at all. Now they're blaming it on the pandemic when the problem is systemic and has been getting worse for decades. School boards have also sought to hide the decline, not wanting to get out front on an issue so central to the future of children.
That "high-quality research" did little good for all the money that's been spent on it.
Yes, but what about this here "constitutional crisis"? The Wall Street Journal editorial board had a common sense reaction.
"Mr. Trump's domestic-policy decisions so far strike us as falling into three categories. Most rest on strong legal ground. Some are legally debatable and could go either way in court. In still others Mr. Trump appears to be breaking current law deliberately to tee up cases that will go to the Supreme Court to restore what he considers to be constitutional norms. None of these is a constitutional crisis."
Even partisan federal judges will have difficulty overturning most of Trump and Musk's actions.
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