GOP Senators Rage About Musk and DOGE to White House

Checking in on our file tabbed “Grossly Inevitable and Obvious” Republican Senators are not even slightly happy with some of the reckless fast cuts DOGE has made through the federal government – cuts that even DOGE admits can be mistakes (ebola) – which is to be expected since Senators like their place in the world, the one in which they matter. These are folks who are going to face the voters again soon enough and probably don’t relish the idea of being in the minority again in two years. Thus it is that they have some concerns and lit up the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, as a message to take back. As reported by The Hill:

Republican senators vented their concerns about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s aggressive approach to freezing federal spending and cutting government jobs during a private meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday.

Gathered in the historic Mansfield Room outside the Senate chamber, some GOP senators complained about what they view as a lack of transparency about what Musk and his team of engineers are doing at federal agencies.

Yes, there is the lack of transparency and there is also the stuff that is all too clear and not exactly what they want to face. To the GOP’s credit, they did a nice job in figuring out who to entrust with their message. It is not a secret that President Donald Trump is able to hear stuff he doesn’t like from Susie Wiles, probably because more often than not she’s right. She has proven that she can read the layout of the land and guide them through with the least amount of damage. So the Senators send her back knowing that she’ll tell Trump exactly what they think.

One of the Republican senators digging for answers is Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who told The Hill he’s trying to find out whether the firing of 2,400 probationary VA employees would impact services for veterans.

Well, I can help him out on this. If you fire 2,400 VA employees it is going to impact services. You might be able to justify it as saving money but that sure doesn’t mean it won’t effect what’s going on. It is far more likely that Moran wants to hear how the White House will handle it when the news focuses on problems in the VA and veterans unable to access service. It is also far more likely that he’s not so much “thinking on this” as it is he wants the White House thinking more on this.

Again this isn’t real subtle. It sure doesn’t involve a lot of complex political analysis. People hear you’re going to cut services to veterans and get a little upset. The Senators certainly know there’s no real upside for them but there damn sure is a massive downside when voters come to do nothing more than send a big message.

And they sure know that every president and his party take it in the teeth in the mid-terms. Throw in anger over hurting the best Americans – veterans, throw in an economy that people now worry about, and throw in an administration that clearly isn’t all that concerned with the impression that DOGE has created and it isn’t set up to really be a winner. If anyone questions that conclusion it’s probably best to pull aside some loyal Trump supporters in the GOP Senate caucus and ask ’em how it’s going.

God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter-X at @JasonMiciak and please follow me on Bluesky.

.Friends, we are struggling to make ends meet. It’s not just us, it’s industry wide. There are star hosts being bumped on MSNBC as we speak. (Joy Reid and Alex Wagner) So if you can afford a small donation or a monthly subscription, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Ursula

Support the site with a subscription today and see no more ads!

Go Ad-free Now!