Former Republican Party chairman Michael Steele warned that expected cuts coming from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will harm MAGA areas more than Democratic cities. Although Congress has not officially created Elon Musk's largely symbolic department, he is pursuing his promise o...
  • rational_lib@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    10 hours ago

    This is a symbolic move, note the long litany of exceptions at the bottom:

    In carrying out this memorandum, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public services and the delivery of these services. Accordingly, this memorandum does not prohibit making reallocations to meet the highest priority needs, maintain essential services, and protect national security, homeland security, and public safety.

    This memorandum does not limit the nomination and appointment of officials to positions requiring Presidential appointment or Senate confirmation, the appointment of officials to non-career positions in the Senior Executive Service or to Schedule A or C positions in the Excepted Service, the appointment of officials through temporary organization hiring authority pursuant to section 3161 of title 5, United States Code, or the appointment of any other non-career employees or officials if approved by agency leadership appointed by the President. Moreover, it does not limit the hiring of personnel where such a limit would conflict with applicable law.

    I mean it’s dumb, don’t get me wrong. But in addition to being dumb, it’s vague, which means it will be worked around and ignored as needed.