Democrats fighting Trump’s government reforms are waging a losing battle

Democrats have gone to the mattress against Donald Trump. Not to protest his immigration crackdown, his intention to shut down the Department of Education, his tariffs or any of the other controversial policies the new president has proposed in the past two weeks. No, Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to protect the federal bureaucracy.

Just recently, Senate Democrats took the extreme measure of filibustering through the night to decry the nomination of Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee to head the White House budget office and, more broadly, the new administration’s efforts to cut wasteful government spending. Historically, Senate filibusters have supported civil rights legislation or opposed ObamaCare — you know, consequential issues. Vought, a fellow likely familiar to few Americans and a veteran of the prior Trump administration, must be flattered.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared “We’re going to be speaking all night. We want Americans, every hour, whether it’s 8 p.m. or 3 a.m., to hear how bad Russell Vought is.” In reality, probably not many Americans tuned into what even the Democrat-friendly New York Times called a “performative protest.” Republicans only need a majority to confirm nominees; they have that.

What exactly are Democratics so wound up about? They are incensed that Elon Musk and his DOGE posse are turning over the rocks and exposing corruption and waste in the federal government. Progressives like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are screeching that Americans did not elect Musk president, while others portray the world’s richest man as a grifter hoping to line his own pockets. Seriously.

Warren is right; no one elected Musk president, but they did elect Donald Trump, who was very open about his plan to cut down our bloated, redundant and wasteful bureaucracy — and who is very supportive of Musk’s efforts.

Hoping to get Musk tossed from the Trump train, Democrats and their allies in the liberal media are trying to drive a wedge between the Tesla founder and the president by noting the brilliant entrepreneur’s critical role and growing clout. Recent stories in The Atlantic are typical: “Elon Musk is President” declares one; another highlights “Elon Musk’s Bureaucratic Coup.”

No doubt the left was sorely disappointed when the president recently vouched for Musk after he gained unprecedented access to the Treasury’s payments systems. Trump said that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval,” suggesting that the SpaceX founder so far is acting within those bounds. Trump also said “If there was something that didn’t have my OK, I’d let you know about it very fast,” leaving no doubt about who’s the boss.

Democrats hate the idea of shrinking the 3 million-person federal workforce; after all, political contributions from the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing such workers, totaled $2.6 million in the last election, 96 percent of which went to Democrats.

But what Democrats really hate is shining a spotlight on where U.S. taxpayer money is going. Hence the uproar about the U.S. Agency for International Development, which many on the right are blasting for having funded left-wing causes and for being utterly unaccountable.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chair of the DOGE caucus, told Fox Digital that USAID has "stonewalled" her office for years; she complains of wasted fund flowing to “tourism in Lebanon, Sesame Street in Iraq, sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week and so much more."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also accuses USAID of being unresponsive and unwilling to cooperate with congressional oversight. He has taken over as temporary head of USAID; he says some existing programs will continue, but he wants to make sure that the $44 billion in taxpayer money annually spent by the agency is “aligned with the national interest.”

How could any elected official disagree? Especially when a majority of the country thinks that corruption, inefficiency and red tape are “major problems” in the federal government.

It turns out that while the Washington Post claims that “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” Democrats today believe that democracy dies when the lights are turned on. And thanks to DOGE, serious wattage is shining on USAID.

Elon Musk tweeted recently, “Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people?” His note referenced another post claiming that “USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance, which then used U.S. taxpayer funds to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab – research that likely led to the creation of Covid-19.”

Musk has also called USAID a “criminal organization” — tough words. But the agency’s activities include a host of offensive programs and expenditure, including $15 million for condoms to the Taliban, $3,315,446 for “being LGBTQ in the Caribbean,” $425,622 to help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly and $2.5 million to build electric vehicle charging stations in Vietnam’s largest cities.

Social media accounts reported recently that the left-leaning site Politico had received $8 million in recent years from USAID. Politico denied it had ever received government grants but acknowledged that government agencies, including USAID, held many subscriptions to their “pro service.” Do taxpayers think this is a good use of their dollars? Does USAID also subscribe to the Wall Street Journal or other right-leaning news organizations?

We are in the early innings of the effort to cut back on government waste, and Democrats are throwing up as many legal challenges as they can. Do they know we have a $36 trillion national debt, and that most Americans (by a wide margin) consistently think the U.S. government tries to do too much?

Democrats look foolish opposing a genuine and promising effort to thin down our government. The more the American people hear about where their tax dollars go, the more absurd their protests will appear.

Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim and Company.

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