Recently, magnate Elon Musk relinquished his position as the head of the Department for Organizing Government Efficacy (DOGE). His stint at the helm was marked by controversy and ended abruptly after a mere four months. He had once posited that the American government, in its state of dysfunction, required a reformer of the caliber of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. This ancient Roman dictator was infamous for his severe reforms and the brutally relentless resolve with which he achieved them. Musk was merely hinting that a comparable iron will might be necessary to overhaul the American system.
It would seem Musk considered himself capable of embodying the Sulla-esque principle of ‘ends justifying the means’ to wrestle with bureaucratic stagnation. However, in the end, his short-lived tenure bore more similarities with another Roman figure, the considerably less fortunate Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. Before taking the reins of DOGE, Musk had voiced an ambitious objective of alleviating the U.S. federal deficit by an astounding $2 trillion.
After several months of concerted efforts, the savings DOGE managed to accomplish amounted to around $160 billion. For a government with an annual expenditure of approximately $7 trillion, this, unfortunately, merely represents a drop in the ocean. In a disheartening parallel, during the same time period, the federal government’s spending escalated by an extra $200 billion compared to the previous year.
In essence, DOGE’s achievement, or lack thereof, has fallen dismayingly short of Musk’s lofty $2 trillion target. It teeters perilously on the edge of failure. Rather than personifying a transformational reformer in the mold of Sulla, Musk’s tenure appears to echo the unfortunate circumstances of Bibulus.
In 59 BC, Caesar and Bibulus commenced their elected terms with high hopes. However, their political ideologies stood in stark contrast. A populist politician on one hand, Caesar was the antithesis of the conservative Bibulus. There was a constant strife between the two, leaving Bibulus little leeway to resist Caesar’s agenda.
In a desperate bid to stem Caesar’s momentum, Bibulus retreated to his home and resorted to disseminating public forewarnings of future calamities. Yet, his plan badly miscalculated the political balance of power. Caesar had engineered the formidable First Triumvirate, and the populace was primarily in favor of his populist policies. Consequently, Caesar steamed ahead unimpeded without Bibulus, who was rendered effectively powerless.
Ultimately, Bibulus came to be viewed as nothing more than an inconsequential gear—regardless of his good intentions—in the great machinery of Roman politics. Similarly, the challenges confronting Musk proved to be much more formidable than initially envisaged, making his DOGE initiative a comparably ineffective tool in battling fiscal excesses.
Regardless of Musk’s sincerity in wishing to combat the escalation of government spending, the obtuseness of the financial machinery overwhelmed him, thereby stifling DOGE’s potential impact. Under the weight of Congress’s lack of support, meaningful fiscal reform remains elusive. Some things are just not within Musk’s grasp.
Returning to the narrative of Julius Caesar, he eventually became a dictator and was assassinated by several senators. In the crowd of his assailants was Marcus Junius Brutus—a young acquaintance of Caesar. Shocked to see Brutus partaking in the conspiracy, Caesar reportedly uttered the phrase, ‘Et tu, Brute?’ or ‘You too, Brutus?’ Although historians suggest that Caesar’s actual final words were directed at Brutus and were more along the lines of ‘You too, my child?’ the incident and its conveyed sentiment are iconic.
Unfortunately for Musk, his well-intentioned DOGE turned out to be yet another governmental program that failed to fulfill its envisioned potential. Given this reality, one cannot help but draw parallels to Shakespeare’s famous phrase, and say, ‘Et tu, DOGE and Elon Musk?’ While realizing that just like Rome was not built in a day, revitalizing a nation’s economy and trimming its wasteful spending cannot be achieved within a short term. Above all, it cannot be accomplished single-handedly.