DOGE Will Fail Without New Leadership

Musk and Ramaswamy Must Step Aside for DOGE to Succeed

Welcome to the Civic Way journal, our quick take on the relevance of current events to America’s future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.

---

Radically changing government, as Musk promises to do, is not rocket science. It is harder. – George Will

Introduction

To restore the federal government’s fiscal health, we need a bipartisan commission to show us (and Congress) the way. Allowing the federal deficits to continue will condemn our nation to a precarious future. Leaving the crushing federal debt to future generations would be unforgivable.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), despite its odd name, represents a generational opportunity to cut the federal government’s debt. Its mission is daunting, but attainable with the right leadership and approach. Its leadership must be deliberative, collaborative and bipartisan. Its approach must be holistic and methodical, balancing revenue enhancements with cost reductions.

Ultimately, DOGE must be able to forge a broad national consensus around a package of revenue increases and expenditure cuts that will generate budget surpluses for years to come. This won’t happen without effective leadership. This begs a critical—and still timely—question: Does DOGE have the right leadership to achieve its mission?

The Leadership Imperative

Our federal fiscal reform initiatives, despite mixed results, offer relevant leadership lessons. The 1981 Grace Commission made 2,500 efficiency recommendations but its work was dominated by private-sector professionals and largely ignored by Congress. The 1983 Social Security Deal, which ensured the program’s solvency for decades, had bipartisan leadership, a widely respected chair (Alan Greenspan) and a bipartisan commission (including congressional representatives).

The 1994 Republican Contract with America, under partisan leadership, yielded mostly symbolic cuts (e.g., end daily ice deliveries). The 1993 National Partnership for Reinventing Government cut some programs, agencies and jobs, and paved the way for four consecutive years of balanced budgets. The 2010 Simpson-Bowles Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which included 12 members of Congress, produced a bold plan for reorganizing federal government and balancing the budget.

Two lessons emerge from fiscal reform initiatives since 1980. One is the need for meaningful bipartisan congressional engagement. The other is the need for effective commission leadership. And effective commission leadership requires several virtues, especially the following three:

• Humility – a commitment to the public interest, a reverence for the Constitution, an insatiable curiosity, a gift for consensus-building, and a devotion to dignified, measured conduct.

• Objectivity – a reputation for impartiality, sober judgement, empathy for those less fortunate, an openness to different ideas, and a proven track record as an impassioned, fair broker.

• Integrity – honorable, ethically above reproach, transparent, quick to disclose potential conflicts of interest, and the instinct to subvert one’s own interests to those of the community.

Musk and Ramaswamy clearly possess leadership attributes—like boldness and decisiveness—that are vital for entrepreneurial success. However, based on their mystifying public conduct since the election, they struggle with the three virtues noted above, virtues essential to DOGE’s success.

The Hunt for Humility

Given Musk’s vast wealth and influence, humility cannot come easily. With Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink, his reach is global. So, too, is his irrepressible impulse to meddle. Since buying X (a decision more about influence than profit), he has amassed over 200 million followers. He does not hesitate to use X as megaphone to advance his political ideology and assail anyone who disagrees with his views.

Musk’s recent displays of arrogance have been all too commensurate with his wealth and influence. Since November, he has strutted across the hallowed halls of Congress and marble floors of Mar-a-Lago as though he had been elected President. His relentless 24 x 7 posting reflects a lack of respect for the independence of Congress and a conviction that he sets the agenda for the incoming GOP Congress.

Musk’s “move fast and break things” ways have allowed little room for respecting others. In fact, since Trump was reelected, Musk has become increasingly undisciplined and erratic, constantly picking fights. In a nasty brawl over the H-1B work visa program^[i], he posted, “Take a big step back and F*CK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.” He also shared a post calling Americans too “retarded” to fill tech industry jobs.

Instead of quietly seeking information and counsel that could aid DOGE’s work, Musk keeps chasing headlines. Virtually every, Musk or his sidekick Ramaswamy announce small bore schemes instead of real reform, trivial short-term savings instead of serious enduring debt reduction plans. Some of their ideas—like eliminating daylight saving time—have little relevance to the debt issue. If these past weeks are any indication, Musk’s obsession with publicity will likely divert DOGE from the reform we need^[ii].

The Need for Objectivity

Musk has increasingly used X to promote his right-wing ideology across the globe. He has praised polarizing right-wing figures like former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. More recently, he has promoted Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party^[iii]. Musk began the new year posting overtures to UK’s far-right extremists, including demands for the release of British anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson. As private citizens, Musk and Ramaswamy have every right to share their views, but as DOGE leaders they are doing a profound disservice to DOGE’s mission^[iv].

Musk and Ramaswamy have been denouncing certain federal programs and agencies for months, especially the customary right-wing prey—like Education, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), NPR, workforce diversity programs, and humanitarian aid. DOGE leaders should ask tough questions and condemn waste, but not before gathering evidence and assessing more promising targets.

That Musk and Ramaswamy share a deep contempt for the federal government, including Congress and the civil service, is no secret. Musk has referred to congresspersons as “deceitful, pork-barrel politicians” and the Federal bureaucracy as an “unconstitutional FOURTH BRANCH.” Ramaswamy has criticized remote workers and called for “deleting” 75 percent of all employees. Celebrating their contempt so often (and early) will alienate the very people DOGE will need to succeed.

Their strident contempt for government has two other important implications for DOGE. First, it will prevent DOGE from leading the debate the nation needs on the federal government's proper role and how much it should cost to cost-effectively fulfill that role. Second, it will inhibit its ability to focus on revenues like tax expenditures that must be addressed—along with costs—to eliminate deficits.

There is No Substitute for Integrity

Musk’s potential conflicts of interest can no longer be ignored. The problem is not so much his staggering (and sordid) investment in Trump’s reelection. That, after all, is the electoral system we have had to endure since the Citizens United decision. The real problem is what Musk appears to expect in return for that investment and how he may use his influence—and DOGE—to secure that return.

DOGE clearly represents a threat to federal agencies and their budgets. To the extent that DOGE’s work leads to a balanced budget, that leverage could prove invaluable. However, if Musk uses DOGE as leverage to hurt his competitors (e.g., other EV firms), expand his federal contracts (e.g., Defense and NASA) or intimidate federal agencies that regulate his businesses (e.g., DOJ, SEC, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, EPA and FAA), his conduct could derail DOGE.

Unfortunately, the recent debt ceiling negotiations portend Musk’s likely approach. The original short-term continuing resolution negotiated by Speaker Johnson had its flaws. It was lengthy (over 1,500 pages) and unwieldy (over 100 provisions many of which seemed irrelevant to the debt issue). However, the deal was bipartisan and would have kept the government running through March.

The original spending bill seemed on the verge of passage when Musk posted over 150 demands to kill the deal. Musk even warned that House Republicans approving the bill would lose their seats. Trump joined the fray 13 hours later adding a request for a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling. The bill died and a government shutdown became imminent once again.

After the Congress killed the first spending bill, Musk and Ramaswamy reacted in ways that effectively disqualify them for the important charge of leading DOGE. To wit, a recent George Will column:

An exultant Musk, confusing himself with the American public, cried, “The voice of the people has triumphed!” Ramaswamy chimed in, “That’s how America is supposed to work.” This, of course, is exactly wrong. – George Will

What happened next is disturbing for anyone with high hopes for DOGE. Speaker Johnson won the House’s approval of a stripped down version of the first bill, extending federal spending for three months. Musk praised Congress for cutting costs, but this was misleading. The approved bill did not materially cut costs. More notably, the new bill exorcised a provision from the first bill threatening Musk’s Chinese business interests (it also ignored Trump’s request to lift the debt ceiling).

From the outside looking in, it appears that Musk used his influence not to reduce federal costs but rather to protect his own interests. The first bill’s so-called outbound investment provision, if it had survived, might have restricted his technology investments in China. Musk has a Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai and has big plans involving China^[v]. This kind of behavior will doom DOGE.

Saving DOGE

The Republican trifecta is a mathematical reality. However, considering the narrow GOP majorities in the House and Senate and Trump’s narrow plurality win, the nation’s electorate remains evenly divided. The good news is that a divided partisan federal government could be the lynchpin to the compromise we need to ensure the federal government’s long-term fiscal health.

DOGE could be a vehicle for realizing that compromise, but its window of opportunity is rapidly closing. The President-elect may not feel comfortable doing to Musk and Ramaswamy what they would relish doing to thousands of federal employees, but he should at least ask them to step aside. If the President-elect fails to find more effective leaders for DOGE, leaders possessing the virtues noted above, DOGE will fail. This would be a failure that the nation can ill afford.

---

^[i] Musk approves the H-1B visa program. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services , Amazon was largest sponsor of H-1B visas in 2024, followed by Apple, Google, IBM, Meta and Tesla. Congress sets the limit for such visas (about 65,000 foreign workers per year).

^[ii] Maya MacGuineas, President of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), said, “looking at the things that make headlines… will keep us away from where … the real savings.”

^[iii] Musk, with significant German investments, has called the reportedly neo-Nazi, anti-Islam AdF the “last spark of hope for this country.”

^[iv] According to Maya MacGuineas, President of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), “the more they weigh in on the day-to-day political skirmishes, … , the less effective they will be in getting their larger changes through an already-polarized Congress.”

^[v] Musk’s Chinese plans include a second Tesla factory, a “Full Self-Driving” technology initiative and an AI data center.