What’s next for DoGE fever?

Washington, DC has been struck with DoGE (Department of Government Efficiency) fever — just as everyone started getting over the bugs they all caught at from Trump’s inauguration. 

Elon Musk and his gang of twenty-something whiz kids are making their mark across the federal government, starting with USAID, which Musk has repeatedly criticized in strident terms as being the core of the corruption he’s seeking to root out. 

Democrats, for their part, have been powerless to stop Musk, hosting press conferences where limp-wristed octogenarians boldly proclaim that they will not be defeated, even as their party is completely locked out of the government; some, like Congressman Mark Pocan, have rolled out messaging bills like the Elon Musk Act, which would ban federal contracts for special government employees, such as Musk. 

Musk’s efforts at USAID have drawn praise from Trump, and aren’t likely to end there, despite several lawsuits that have already been lodged against them. Musk has his sights on other agencies throughout the government that he wants to streamline in his vision of DoGE, regardless of how easy it will be to convince tens of thousands of government employees to take his buyouts. 

Up next in Musk’s sights are reportedly the IRS and its direct-file tax payment program, the Social Security Administration, the GSA (which could see the implementation of his GSAi) and more.

-Matthew Foldi

On our radar

AMEN President Trump is planning to create a new White House Faith Office through executive action today.

JUST IN CASEY Reports say Casey DeSantis, wife of Ron, is considering a run for governor of Florida in 2026. 

BACK TO PLASTIC! Donald Trump announced he will sign an executive order ending “the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work.”

More tariffs could be coming

Having threatened the use of tariffs against four countries already, President Donald Trump announced Friday that he plans to introduce reciprocal tariffs on many more next week. 

At a joint press conference with Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, the president said he planned to use levies to address US budgetary concerns. Trump did not specify, however, which countries would be targeted by these new tariffs. 

“I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries,” he told reporters in the White House. 

In a confirmation Thursday, Trump’s trade representative nominee Jamieson Greer, citing Vietnam, explained that countries must reduce barriers to American exports if they want access to the US market. Greer previously served as chief of staff for Trump’s first trade representative Robert Lighthizer, a celebrity in the intellectual right who reportedly angled running the commerce or treasury departments. 

“I need, if I’m confirmed, to go to these countries and explain to them that if they want to enjoy continued market access to the United States, we need to have better reciprocity,” Greer said before the Senate Finance Committee. 

–Juan P. Villasmil

Bowser’s fury

DC mayor Muriel Bowser isn’t likely to be a fan of new legislation from Senator Mike Lee and Congressman Andy Ogles — even though it’s named in her honor.

The Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident (BOWSER) Act, if passed, would render DC’s mayor largely insignificant, because it would repeal DC’s home rule one year after passage. For most Republicans, Bowser is a frequent punching bag — and not without merit. The Spectator has chronicled the demise of DC neighborhoods such as Navy Yard, which stand out as a “failing experiment in gentrification.”

Lee and Ogles’s views that DC can’t run itself may be correct. Under their law, Congress would be able to change, overturn and impose laws on the capital city. “Washington is now known for its homicides, rapes, drug overdoses, violence, theft and homelessness,” Ogles said. “Bowser and her corrupt Washington City Council are incapable of managing the city. As such, it seems appropriate for Congress to reclaim its constitutional authority and restore the nation’s Capital. The epicenter of not only the United States Federal Government but also the world geopolitics cannot continue to be a cesspool of Democrats’ failed policies.”

Ever since the DC Council passed its Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, which would have lowered criminal penalties for a series of violent crimes, Republicans (and even some Democrats) in Congress have argued that the progressive left’s takeover of America’s capital needs to come to an end.

While the BOWSER Act faces a tough pass towards passage, there have been a series of high-profile attacks on Democratic members of Congress in and around their homes in DC that may prompt several more to hop on board.

–Cockburn