President Trump’s rapid, chaotic and often illegal downsizing of the U.S. federal government has elicited sharp criticism, even as some of Trump’s own supporters say they support the effort. Much of that work has been spearheaded by Elon Musk, a Trump mega-donor and alleged chief of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk claims that his goal is to reduce “fraud, waste and abuse” within the federal government, although federal workers dispute those allegations. Some of DOGE’s cuts, moreover, are projected to cost far more than they save, prompting skepticism regarding DOGE’s true purpose.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor David Pakman reviews Musk’s and Trump’s actions within the broader context of right-wing U.S. politics, and concludes that DOGE’s real goal is to sabotage public programs so that they can later be privatized and traded for a profit.

The following is an excerpt from the above video:

So then you go to the idea of fixing the fraud, waste and abuse by cutting half of Social Security’s workforce. But what would that do? That would mean longer wait times. It would mean delayed checks. It would mean total chaos for the retirees. It would be chaos for disabled Americans, anybody who relies on Social Security benefits. But that’s the point of the plan.

You and I might say: “Oh, you cut Social Security’s workforce, it’ll worsen the program, that’s bad.” The Musks of the world say: “Oh, it’ll worsen the program, that’s good!”

And this is straight out of the right-wing playbook, which is underfund public services until they can’t function properly, wait for the public to become frustrated —“I’m not getting my check from Social Security because they cut half the workforce!” — and at that point you come in, you say: “Hey, you know what? You’re right. This isn’t working. We have a better idea than the government running it. Let’s privatize it!”

In swoop the corporations and make a whole bunch of money. Public schools is another area where this is an approach. The post office, remember around the 2020, election COVID mail-in ballots, Louis DeJoy, the idea was, let’s slow it down and make it suck, and then we can go, “Hey, you know what? We don’t really need this post office. Let’s go to DHL, let’s go to FEDEX, let’s go to UPS.” And Social Security is the next target.

Why would Elon want to do this? Because billionaires like Musk and his right-wing friends want the money in the stock market, not in a program that guarantees that seniors can retire with dignity.