The goal of this exercise is not to fund worthwhile projects. This is not a cutting of the fat. It's a permanent end of funding so that the rich can get some tax breaks.
The "big beautiful bill" has to be budget neutral to pass. Meaning to get those tax breaks, funding has to be slashed.
This is all about money. Republican voters believe a cheaper govt means less taxes for them. They don't appreciate the benefits they're getting. Hence they cheer as they lose those benefits, and they'll cheer just as loud when the rich get tax cuts.
When in the last forty years have Republicans shown any real interest in funding any new worthwhile research projects at the federal level? Versus just cutting what already exists?
When legal and predictable processes are undermined no one can rely on the government being a good actor. A good reputation takes generations to establish and seconds to destroy. No one will trust the government now.
> When legal and predictable processes are undermined ...
Being legally undermined is hardly a bad thing. We voted for unified Republican control of both branches of the legislator and the POTUS. You might not like the outcomes, but there's nothing illegal about what the executive branch is doing, how it's doig it, or the legislation that Congress will be passing in the coming months.
> ... no one can rely on the government being a good actor. A good reputation takes generations to establish and seconds to destroy. No one will trust the government now.
The prior administrations should have kept that in mind before they squandered our money. It's unfortunate that useful and deserving projects will temporarily get caught in the blast radius. But there's been so much waste an lack of accountability that something like what we're seeing for the past few weeks is the only recourse.
But this isn’t legal. Doge is not a validly created department because it wasn’t created by congress. Elon musk was appointed by the president after congressional advise and consent. The termination has violated employment law pass by congress specifically to shield the federal employees from partisan attacks and influence. The fact that the federal bureaucracy has been a non-partisan professional workforce has been on of the greatest strengths in the world. What musk and trump are doing will introduce corruption in government by turning it into a spoil system. They are making new hires swear allegiance to trump directly not the constitution. Also not legal. And when they’ve lost in court they have actively defied the rulings. Oh and that’s after lying about the fact that Elon’s running things to make their position more favorable. Shall I go on?
"We" didn't vote for that. 49.8% of voters did, or about 23% of all people living in the US.
> there's nothing illegal about what the executive branch is doing
Why do you believe that? There are a lot of people filing lawsuits saying that there's a ton illegal about how the executive branch is doing things, and quite a few judges agree enough to order Trump to stop doing what he's doing until we can figure out what's going on.
