Subject: Re: Krugman on DOGE
No doubt. But the problem is that a lot of Trump voters want government to keep its hands off their Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, VA benefits, etc. They want their mail delivered promptly, their food safe to eat, and planes not to crash.

MAGA doesn’t believe in reality. But reality bites.

That is indeed the crux.

For a very long time, small-government conservatives have been arguing that much (most?) of what the federal government does is either unimportant or just waste, and would not be missed if it went away. For the first time, there's an Administration that is strong enough within the GOP to just go ahead and make massive reductions in federal staffing and programs without paying any attention to the constituencies that have traditionally been able to use Congressional power to protect them. Trump has enormous political capital within the GOP, and he's apparently been willing to give a lot of it to the DOGE project and force Congress to swallow it.

So now, the central thesis of small-government conservatism is going to be tested: was there really a large proportion of the federal government that was either useless (like surplus staff) or doing things that won't really be missed much? If yes, DOGE will be able to accomplish it's goals without much blowback on the Administration. If no, then reality will bite them, and they'll have to stop long before there's much change to the size and scope of the government at large.