Musk wields his Doge chainsaw, but is a backlash brewing?
Wearing a black “Make America Great Again” hat and black sunglasses, Donald Trump is tasked with giving the federal government a metaphorical chainsaw to the majority of federal government billionaire Elon Musk (Elon Musk) is popular with rock stars. Thursday’s Wing Party.
He even has a literal chainsaw.
With thousands cheering, Argentine President Javier Milei is also a favorite at the annual CPAC event that appeared in the backstage. He stitched Musk’s slight shiny chainsaw with “Viva la libertad Carajo!” – Spanish “Live Live Liberty, damn!” – Played on the Blade.
Musk waved his power tool high and shouted, “This is a bureaucratic chainsaw! Chainsaw!”
The day was an amazing moment, including an animated speech about the dangers of the big administration and Trump’s first month of accomplishment at the White House. It proves that Musk is the only conservative who approaches Trump’s ability to be vibrant for the crowd.
Outside Washington, however, there are signs that Musk’s chainsaw’s approach to the federal government (including shutdowns, refund programs and layoffs on the mass civil service) could cut too close to the bone.
Around the time Musk celebrated his so-called “government efficiency” at an event near Washington, D.C., Republican Congressman Rich McCormick was hosting a town hall forum for his constituents.
Many in Roswell, Georgia were angry at the effects of musk-inspired cuts and let members of Congress know.
“Congress controls the budget, not the president,” one woman said. “You are hurting this situation, not standing up for us.”
McCormick’s response was flooded by Yeles.
“I know trying to do more — it’s reasonable,” another voter said. “It’s unreasonable to take this chainsaw approach.”
Earlier this month, a Pew study found that 54% of Americans had negative opinions on musk, and 37% of them responded “very unfavorable.”
Only 23% of Americans told Reuters this week that the president has the right to fire “any federal employee who disagrees with the president”. 58% said they were concerned that popular government programs, such as Social Security Retirement Benefits for seniors and subsidized student loans, could be affected.
In a CNN poll, only more than half of Americans said Trump was “too far away” in exercising presidential powers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson praised Musk and his team at an earlier event Thursday at the CPAC.
“They are exposing this huge fraud, waste and abuse because the deep state has hidden it in us so we can’t find it,” he said.
Many Republicans agree with the sentiment, even if it means blaming the president for the congressional power spent by the government. Congressional conservatives have been working to reduce the size of the federal government for decades, and now Musk and Trump are delivering, despite the expansion of the executive power through a large amount of executive power.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis told CBS News he believes Doge’s approach is necessary because Republicans fail to get from bureaucracy on how to improve government efficiency Legal answer.
“The way to force people to invest for exceptions is to turn everything off,” Tillis said. “I know it’s very disruptive, but I think they need to have the ability to bring things back online that makes sense.”
But if Trump’s poll numbers (slightly declined recently) continue to decline, and if Republican lawmakers are challenged by voters at a city hall meeting, or their offices are filled with angry calls, that could change that. Condition.
Members of Congress across the United States have begun to move forward to defend federal programs including academic research, agriculture, veterans’ services and funding for national parks, which are affected by Musk’s “government efficiency” action.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt called for a “smart, targeted approach” to cuts in health research in their own country. Moderate Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski complained on social media that many of the proposed layoffs “will do more harm than good.”
“I share the government’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government, but this approach is causing confusion, anxiety and trauma to our civil servants,” she wrote on X.
The Trump administration has backed down some of its announced layoffs in key departments — including the Department of Energy employees, the department that handles nuclear weapons security, the Department of Agriculture, the agricultural team responsible for curbing the recent outbreak of bird flu, and a plan to monitor Healthy Planned Workers First Responders and Survivors of the World Trade Center attack on September 11.
“I think a lot of these shots were accidental,” said Susan Collins, another centrist, a Republican Senator in Maine. “The fact that workers were released was engaged in avian flu, and workers were fired,” said Susan Collins, of Maine. The fact that we are responsible for nuclear safety shows that we need a more cautious approach.”
He admitted that in his appearance at the White House last week, he admitted that his team might make mistakes because he was eager to cut government spending – “but we will act quickly to correct any mistakes.”
However, for Americans who are not affected by the Dog Chain Saw, this may be cold.
It may come at a political cost.
History shows that even when it comes to solving mistakes, voters often remember such mistakes the next time they enter a poll.
