Why shouldn’t Elon Musk try to revamp federal regulations?

The Department of Redundancy Department could use a once-over

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President-elect Donald Trump wants to make the federal government efficient. How? By adding another layer of bureaucracy.

That’s the essence of the announcement billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, styled as Musk’s favorite acronym, DOGE.

Let’s place bets on how long till the first Assistant to the Co-Chief of Staff for the Acting Deputy Associate Administrator for Administration at the Department of Government Efficiency.

Which, pace Monty Python or perhaps Firesign Theatre, might end up being the Department of Efficiency Department.

The simple course is for Musk to pay for DOGE himself. If no federal funds are involved, no red tape is engaged, courts and the scolding industry don’t get a say.

If the new project is a “department,” it must be created by Congress and comply with a thick binder of rules. Of course the rules can be changed by Congress, but that will take time because of laws that govern federal actions. There would have to be a public comment period! Of course the laws can be changed by Congress, but that will take time too.

If the project is a “commission,” heed this wisdom from my old boss Charlie Peters (1926-2023), who was a state legislator in West Virginia, held medium-high positions in the JFK and LBJ administrations, then founded the Washington Monthly: “In Washington if you want to be absolutely certain nothing changes, announce a commission.”

Photo courtesy National Park Service.