President Donald Trump has wasted no time trying to implement his far-right political agenda. In just two months, he’s pushed through cruel mass deportations, cracked down on pro-Palestine protesters, antagonized U.S. allies, and made bigoted, wide-reaching attacks on anything that smells of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). But one project in particular has dominated the spotlight: the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The team, led by the Nazi-saluting, far-right billionaire Elon Musk, claims to be focused on eliminating waste in government spending and cutting $1 trillion from the budget. DOGE has ruthlessly gutted the federal workforce, firing (though sometimes rehiring) tens of thousands of workers, and trying to eliminate entire agencies, like USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Of course, DOGE is not actually about efficiency — in fact, its sledge-hammer approach and ever-changing demands are making agencies far more inefficient, and sinking the federal government into chaos. Cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for instance, mean that federal tax revenue could actually drop by over $500 billion, cancelling out any meager savings DOGE has made elsewhere. And of course, Musk is conspicuously not cutting funding in areas where he could personally profit, like government contracts for SpaceX, his space exploration and satellite internet company.
Instead, DOGE is a symptom of a U.S. regime in decline, and part of the Far Right’s plan to shift control of the federal bureaucracy and budget to the executive branch while punishing workers. But a united working class can and must fight these attacks — and the system that made them possible.
DOGE’s Goal: Shore Up Executive Power
If we scratch the surface of DOGE’s chaos, it’s plain to see that this is not a project about “cutting waste;” but rather one about shifting control of the federal bureaucracy and budget to the executive branch of the U.S. government. In this sense, Musk and his lackeys should be seen through the lens of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the far-right blueprint to, among other things, expand the scope of presidential power.
Despite disavowing Project 2025 on the campaign trail, President Trump has already brought many parts of the plan to fruition, like ramping up fossil fuel production and attacking “wokeness” in the form of DEI programs. While it doesn’t explicitly outline the creation of DOGE, Project 2025 does seek to “handcuff the bureaucracy” and “discipline” spending decisions. Slimming down the federal bureaucracy through mass layoffs (and even near-closures of agencies), while placing it under executive control, gives the president significantly more authority over legislation and spending.
Beyond allowing Trump and the Far Right more unchecked power to implement their agenda as a result of a strengthened executive, DOGE’s cuts also weaken the Democratic Party. By consolidating control over government agencies, the Trump administration is able to, for example, more directly control funding and federal grants, and strong-arm states into doing his bidding. Democrat-controlled states — and Democrat-aligned organizations — could receive fewer funds, in line with the Trump administration’s aims to punish enemies and reward allies. And DOGE’s actions hit at a critical part of the Democratic Party apparatus: the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits rely heavily on federal funds and grants, and deep cuts are already devastating these organizations across the country.
Austerity, Privatization, and Attacks on Workers
Beyond shoring up the Far Right’s power in the executive, DOGE’s vast cuts are also a form of austerity on steroids. As Jason Koswloski explains, capitalists have struggled with sluggish economic growth and declining profits for decades — a problem that neither Biden, nor Trump in his first term, were able to overcome. As a result, Trump is now betting harder on one of the ruling class’s favorite remedies: austerity.
Beyond vast cuts to governmental agencies, and science and education funding, it’s no secret that the U.S. welfare state is one of the group’s ultimate targets. Musk himself has said that, “Most of the federal spending is entitlements… That’s the big one to eliminate,” putting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in his crosshairs. The Trump administration, with Musk’s help, needs to cut social programs both to help fund tax cuts for the wealthy and to try to restore capitalist profits to their former glory.
Of course, DOGE and the Trump administration aren’t just hoping to destroy U.S. institutions — they’re hoping to keep the spoils for themselves. While Musk continues to enrich himself through government contracts, corporations are already salivating at the prospect of privatizing, for example, the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak.
These are also attacks on the working class, disguised as “efficiency.” As Samuel Karlin and Julia Wallace recently explained, “Departments won through class struggle to regulate some of the most egregious ills of the capitalist state are especially at risk, such as the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Labor Relations Board.”
DOGE Is a Symptom of the Regime’s Bonapartization
At first glance, it might seem like DOGE is just a Frankenstein’s monster of Musk’s grotesque wealth and the arch-reactionary minds of the Heritage Foundation. And to be sure, it is: DOGE takes directly from Musk’s Twitter takeover playbook, and the Heritage Foundation says the team, “is a first step, and a necessary one, in dismantling the administrative state.” But DOGE can’t be separated from the broader political context.
The U.S. regime has moved right in recent years as a consequence of the country’s decline internationally and domestically, and of a prolonged organic crisis, particularly since 2008. Part of this rightward shift is rooted in Bonapartism, which refers to authoritarian regimes headed by a “strong man” or “charismatic figure” who acts as an “arbiter” of social classes, supported by the bureaucratic-military apparatus (as opposed to the classic democratic parliamentary regime).
DOGE, like Trumpism, is a specific form of Bonapartism, combining an agenda based on a strong executive with a libertarian rationale. Their aim: to resolve the regime’s mounting crises with a far-right agenda, and persecute political dissent to block class struggle.
Of course, American bourgeois democracy has always had Bonapartist and authoritarian features, as demonstrated by, for example, the violent repression of the Black Power movement right after the fall of Jim Crow. But as the crisis of U.S. hegemony has accelerated in the context of neoliberal decline, these features have been exacerbated, particularly since the pandemic. As Claudia Cinatti explains:
In an international context of degradation of liberal democracies, Bonapartist attempts are emerging as bolded solutions to shift the relation of forces to resolve the crisis to the right. Authoritarian far-right governments — such as those of Trump and the Milei in Argentina — push the limits of the legality of liberal democracy, try to eliminate the separation of powers by concentrating everything in the executive, make use of a system that includes everything from the other branches of government to the mass media and social media, and use state repression to drastically change the balance of power.
Seen through this lens, DOGE is just one symptom of the U.S. in decline.
Will DOGE Live On?
The controversy unleashed by Musk’s role in Trump’s administration may have reached a boiling point. According to Politico, Trump has shared with his inner circle that the Tesla CEO would soon leave the government and instead “take on a supporting role.” This comes as Musk is facing growing backlash both domestically and abroad, with Tesla sales plummeting and protests growing, particularly at dealerships. The billionaire’s weakness was on full display in Wednesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race where, despite pouring over $20 million into the Republican candidate’s campaign, the Democrats still scored a win. Many have speculated that this outcome was actually largely because of rather than despite Musk’s interference.
As if this were not enough, tensions within Trump’s own coalition have intensified due to Musk’s ideology and handling of DOGE. Perhaps the most sensitive aspect of these tensions are the differences between the tech-tycoons on the one hand, and the right-wing populists on the other. The latter have deep roots in MAGA ideology and are represented by figures like Steve Bannon. These tensions have been expressed in differences in how to address the immigration issue.The tech boys depend heavily on international professionals to work in their corporations, while the MAGA movement is committed to mass deportations and “jobs for Americans.”
There are many other tensions in the Trump coalition, like on tariffs. But when it comes to DOGE, Musk has increasingly clashed with the cabinet as a result of direct interference in the directive on how to manage the defense budget, the Pentagon expenses, and other state departments. For Marco Rubio and other figures in the Trump administration, Musk has overstepped his jurisdiction.
All these vicissitudes are behind the perhaps imminent and premature fall of Musk. It remains to be seen how this will affect the course of the current administration, but even without the Tesla billionaire, DOGE seems to be here to stay. Whether or not the right-wing agenda will prevail and advance all the way, depends on many factors and, above all, on the outcome of the incipient but growing resistance against the new Right Wing in power. DOGE’s goals are far from being achieved, and Trump faces important challenges — his popularity is floundering amid attacks on public services, and both Republicans and Democrats are wary of growing economic turmoil and class struggle.
A United Working Class Can Fight the Attacks
Federal workers across the country have already organized protests and actions against the cuts. But these workers can’t battle DOGE, the Trump administration, and the Far Right alone — the whole working class needs to fight with a united fist. This means that unions need to democratically plan how to fight the attacks, using working-class methods like strikes. Unions should also unite with social movements, mobilizing with, for example, the movements for immigrants and for Palestine.
We’ve seen key examples of what this united fight can look like. Last year, workers at the University of California embarked on a historic strike against the repression of the movement for Palestine. Unions like the SEIU and UAW have released statements in support of immigrants, free speech, and higher education. In the last few weeks, groups like Jewish Voice for Peace have used protests and sit-ins to call for Mahmoud Khalil’s release. And internationally, protests are growing against other authoritarian leaders, like Javier Milei in Argentina and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey.
Crucially, defending our democratic rights and fighting the Far Right does not mean defending the status quo that the Democrats support. The Democratic Party defends a caricature of democracy where elections are effectively bought by the super wealthy, like Elon Musk. In the United States, like other bourgeois “democracies,” elected officials represent a minority of the country and serve the interests of capital. As Karlin and Wallace explain, “it is because of the nature of the American system and the class interests the presidency serves that he is able to attempt such anti-democratic maneuvers.”
Instead, we need an independent, working-class, internationalist perspective that rejects illusions in American exceptionalism, and fights to challenge the U.S. regime at its core.