DOGE cuts are not in good faith

A couple recent letters to the editor have commended the current administration's efforts to cut costs and reduce fraud. I think all would agree that these efforts are reasonable and need to be pursued. Further, I'm sure there are federal expenditures that each of us individually might disagree with.

What's going on in Washington, D.C. today, however, is not being done in good faith. The cuts that DOGE is implementing are not being done with any degree of study or discrimination. DOGE is simply taking an ax to whole departments, without any consideration of what their programs include. One example: firing energy department personnel whose responsibilities included keeping our nuclear stockpile safe. Another: freezing funds to NIH, including those targeted for cancer research.

These people doing the cuts are not forensic accountants identifying waste. They are employees of Elon Musk, cutting out whatever they've been told to cut out. The cuts that have been made to date represent a tiny percentage of federal government expenditures — nowhere near the $2 trillion that is the apparent target. The largest government expenditures are to so-called entitlement programs (primarily Social Security and Medicare) and the Department of Defense. There is no way these areas will be exempt from DOGE's meddling.

As has been true forever, if you want to know what is really happening you have to follow the money. That's as true today as it was back in the days of Watergate. And just as with Watergate, the problem starts at the very top.

Connie Kennedy

Cedar Rapids