Every presidential election brings changes, although this one brings more than most. President-elect Donald Trump has recently proposed a new presidential commission called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with billionaire Elon Musk and politician and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy appointed to lead it. Its main purpose is to increase efficiency in the government by cutting spending and restructuring agencies. 

Although a more efficient government seems ideal, I cannot help but question if the execution will be as good as the concept. The people in charge, Musk and Ramaswamy, are educated people who seem like they should be able to make good decisions for the government. Looking deeper, however, flaws in their characters are apparent; for example, both have actively spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. Musk uses his platform, X (formerly Twitter), to post about his views on the world. In doing so, he has spread a lot of misinformation, such as claiming that the Democratic Party was importing voters illegally, which was found to be false. As for Ramaswamy, he made false claims by denying that many people involved in the Jan. 6 attacks were armed. People who either do not check facts or willingly spread misinformation to the public should not be in charge of our government. 

Additionally, Musk has conflicts of interest. For example, Musk claimed in a post on X that “the bureaucracy” was smothering a project called Starship, which intends to take humanity to Mars. He claimed that the DOGE could remedy the smothering and said it was the only way to take life beyond Earth. However, Starship was manufactured by SpaceX, which Musk founded. This makes it clear that Musk wants to use the DOGE for personal gains.  Putting aside the issues with the people in charge of the DOGE, a few aspects of the proposed department are also concerning. First of all, one cannot help but worry about the name. Musk stated that he got the inspiration for the name from a meme called Doge and the cryptocurrency he created. Although it is a fun name, does this reflect the department as a whole? If Musk named it after a meme, is he actually all that serious about it? Or will his future actions reflect the name and the nature of a joke? 

Musk stated in a campaign rally that the DOGE plans to cut at least two trillion dollars from the above six trillion dollar government budget. But if these cuts are made, it could have detrimental effects. Although money could be saved, DOGE could also cause repercussions for many people in America. For instance, they plan to cut hundreds of millions from several progressive groups, including Planned Parenthood, which provides essential services such as sexual education and healthcare for many people in the country. This includes teens not only in our area, but statewide. Without funds, essential care including birth control and STD testing and treatment for thousands of people every day will disappear. This is only one of the many things that the DOGE is threatening. 

I can only hope that the DOGE brings good things. However, with all of the information in mind, it seems clear that it will have widespread negative effects. But we will just have to wait and see.