Critics of DOGE tend to just assume federal programs are necessary and beneficial, so anyone trying to end them is anti-social. The simple fact is, returning the federal government spending levels to those of Clinton would nowadays be seen as catastrophic austerity. The basic idea that government spending brings prosperity is a gospel which cannot be questioned.

Bureaucrats who rely on people not looking too closely at their offices like to equate themselves with whatever vague ideas the public has, too. For example, the Department of Education is only a few years older than I am, but people think without it, we would have people walking around spouting flat earth theories and claiming ancient aliens built everything. Wait...