> although correct in his assessment of the overweening federal bureaucracy
Except he wasn’t. Did DOGE’s cuts exceed even $100B, when he at first estimated he’d cut $2T in a few months?
He thought the waste is because of fraud and errors, when instead there are more systematic / structural issues with the biggest bodies of expense: Medicaid, Medicare, the Pentagon. But making significant changes is unpopular with older voters.
This is kind of the classic story of attempts to cut government 'waste'; new person in goes in gung-ho having apparently never read about any previous attempts, discovers that actually most of the spending is on untouchable stuff, screws around a bit saving almost no money but causing severe disruption which will cost far more in the long run than any savings, declares victory. Repeat in ten to twenty years, when everyone's forgotten.
Too many social programs to make cuts. Someone who goes without Medicare or Disability, their life is in ruins. Don't want to ruin the elderly and disabled lives.