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Comment by roenxi | Hacker News Reader

Usually I am against one-liners like yours, but in this case I really think this is the only response. DOGE is a lobby group with no plan and therefore no prospects of success. There isn't much to talk about. The Republicans have been disingenuous about any efficiency or economic reform for my entire lifetime and even assuming Trump & Co are serious I doubt they have the numbers to get Congressional support for big reform, so there will be at most small incremental changes that will probably be rolled back in a few years.

I'd like to be wrong, but if there is anything here I don't see it. It is going to take a lot more than buzz and conversation to handle the unmanageable pork-barrelling beast that is the US bureaucracy.

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Adopting a skeptical approach is indeed wise in politics. However, there's a significant opportunity to align bureaucracies with modern technologies. Politics, as a field, seems unusually resistant to technological advancements that could enhance democratic processes. This reminds me of the early days of IT, when it was merely a peripheral division in most organizations. Over time, IT evolved into a core strategic function, transforming how businesses operate. Could a similar shift happen in politics?

My perspective is that if done correctly, the federal budget should stay roughly the same. Although I am worried about the federal budget being more devoted to debt servicing overtime. Perhaps it would be possible to boost service level while reducing budgetary load.

The reason is simple. Fast and efficient bureaucracy requires adequate and well trained manpower to operate. It's not just about eliminating busywork, but also having the manpower to manage the queue.

Bet you a dollar the bureaucracy has already thought of this and has multiple internal committees that have been working on those exact words for years. Any issues aren't going to be lack of good people or ideas, government is swimming in those. The issue is incentives at the systemic level and the patchworks of powerful interest groups. Adding, effectively, a new interest group doesn't look like progress to me. Especially since the incentives don't seem to be well aligned - why would Musk care about how efficient individual workers are? It might be, but it is far too early to say if it is.

“Fast and efficient bureaucracy”: can that even exist?

Yes, and the fact that you cannot even conceive of it tells you that you might be a victim of propaganda.

what example can you give?

It's a group with no real authority. Their only option is to create reports. In some cases the Administration may act directly on them. In the majority of cases it will be a report delivered to the legislature that they will then completely ignore.

The largest budget programs are entitlements which the Trump team seems powerless to change and thus has no stated desire to engage with them at all or the Pentagon which is _the_ pork barrel machine as far as congress is concerned.

DOGE mostly looks to be a PR distraction.

> DOGE is a lobby group with no plan

That Elon hasn't published a plan doesn't mean he doesn't have one.

He's done the "impossible" many times before, so I expect a very serious effort. Can it fail, sure. But betting agains Elon is historically a terrible strategy.

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