Cry “Havok!” and Let Slip the DOGE of War

“Judge the effectiveness of a strategy by the response of your opponent.” – Dan Bongino

Over the past month, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Elon Musk, has generated quite a bit of uproar within the federal government and among Democrat legislators in its attempt to expose and reduce government spending, fraud, waste, and abuse. However, once one gets past all of the hyperbole and manufactured hysteria, it is something the American people resoundingly voted for in November 2024—and the only way to save the country from self-inflicted economic collapse. The uproar over something that should not be controversial at all raises an important question: Why are certain individuals and groups so determined to stop DOGE’s work?

Political Appointees and the U.S. Digital Services

The two main arguments raised against DOGE by its most fervent opponents—then parroted by those who blindly follow them—are that Musk wasn’t elected and that DOGE isn’t a real federal agency and, therefore, cannot be held accountable for its actions by Congress or the public. Both arguments are disingenuous, intellectually dishonest, or just plain ignorant, and while they shouldn’t need clarification, here’s the truth to counter these claims.

First, the President of the United States, as Chief Executive of the Executive Branch, has the authority under Article II of the Constitution to appoint political advisors without needing Senate confirmation. Chiefs of staff, general counsel, and numerous other positions—such as deputy assistant to the President—serve at the pleasure of the President to execute his political agenda. Musk is one such advisor. While he is not an employee or director of DOGE, he provides guidance to the organization and reports its findings to the President for further review or action.

Second, DOGE is not an independent entity; it is the rebranding and retasking of the U.S. Digital Services (USDS), an existing federal agency under executive authority. USDS was created by former President Obama in 2014 to improve federal agencies’ digital services for the public. DOGE employees, primarily software engineers and IT professionals, are federal employees tasked with identifying fraud, waste, and abuse using digital tools. The outrage over young IT professionals having access to government data is a deliberate red herring—designed to provoke an emotional response from those who rely on ten-second soundbites and clickbait headlines for their news.

Beware of the False Prophets Who Come to You in USAID Clothing but Are Inwardly Ravenous Wolves

Of all DOGE’s exposures to date, none have been more revealing of systemic waste and abuse than its findings on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This agency has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on soft-power social engineering across the globe and often serves as an unofficial extension of the Intelligence Community, operating with minimal Congressional oversight. A fly on the wall in a USAID meeting in Iraq might easily mistake its officers for CIA operatives.

But USAID’s actions are only part of the problem. DOGE has also uncovered $4.7 trillion in unlabeled disbursements from the U.S. Treasury, along with tens of millions of deceased individuals still listed on the Social Security Administration’s rolls. Furthermore, countless unelected federal employees have failed to respond to even basic requests for accountability—some refusing to take five minutes to answer an email, others having full-fledged meltdowns when asked to justify their job in under fifteen minutes.

The scale of mismanagement is staggering, and DOGE has only scratched the surface. The real test will come when auditors open the books of the IRS, Medicaid, Medicare, and the Department of Defense—an agency that has failed its last seven audits and has misplaced hundreds of billions of dollars over the years. The findings will undoubtedly provoke an intense wave of misinformation and outrage from the usual talking heads and their compliant media allies.

The Better I Get to Know Men, the More I Find Myself Loving DOGEs

President Trump campaigned on reducing the size of government and cutting its massive fiscal waste. In just a few weeks, DOGE has exposed levels of fraud and mismanagement that surpass even the infamous $400 hammers and $1,000 toilet seats of past government scandals. Recognizing the success of DOGE, many state governments are now creating similar agencies to rein in their own out-of-control spending.

Most importantly, DOGE has shined a light on the individuals who benefit most from government waste—the very same people who now protest the loudest against its mission. Their outrage is telling. The more DOGE uncovers, the clearer it becomes that those most opposed to transparency are the ones with the most to lose.

[Editor’s Note: Ben’s heading is a play on a famous quote often attributed to Charles de Gaulle (or sometimes to Mark Twain or others): “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”]

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Ben is a former U.S. Army Mountain Infantry Platoon Sergeant and served in domestic and overseas roles from 2001-2018, including, from 2003-2005, as a sniper section leader. Besides his military service, Ben worked on the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq’s protective security detail in various roles, and since 2018, he has also provided security consulting services for public and private sectors, including tactical training, physical and information security, executive protection, protective intelligence, risk management, insider threat mitigation, and anti-terrorism. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies from American Military University, a graduate certificate in Cyber Security from Colorado State University and is currently in his second year of AMU’s Doctorate of Global Security program.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.