According to the most recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll, a majority of Americans (49% to 34%) disapprove of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — and for good reason. Editor Conor Reilley’s “cautious praise” for these chaotic and destructive cost-cutting measures, published in The Monitor on Mar. 5, was rife with misinformation and made me question where he gets his facts.
As most people are aware, Elon Musk was not elected, nor was he appointed to a cabinet post, which would have required him to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As a rogue operator, he has been playing fast and furious with middle class American jobs — in total, 360 Montana-based U.S. Forest Service employees have received job termination notices, according to multiple news reports — while slashing departments and contracts with no knowledge of what they do, sowing chaos and uncertainty even at the local county level here in Jefferson County.
On Mar. 4, Reuters audited the claims of savings on DOGE’s website and found that “DOGE either modified or removed more than 1,000 entries on its list, nearly half of the spending arrangements it had listed the week before.” As we know, the administration has had to hire back people who guard our nuclear secrets and work to contain the bird flu.
