Elon Musk’s understanding of the so-called deep state comes off as rather shallow. The Tesla CEO reckons $2 trillion can be slashed from the U.S. bureaucracy, echoing decades of arm-waving over wasteful spending in Washington.

Elon Musk had some relatable thoughts on the new “department” of government efficiency he’s been tasked to head with Vivek Ramaswamy. “I still can’t believe DOGE is real,” he wrote on his social media platform X on Sunday night,

Which federal departments have the greatest percentage of waste, fraud, and abuse? Can Elon Musk find $2 trillion in federal spending cuts? How will Trump cut the budget?

U.S. President-elect Trump has tasked billionaire businessman Elon Musk with making the government cost-efficient. That may be an admirable objective, but the ideology driving it is wrong-headed... and dangerous.