Is privatizing US public services the ulterior motive of Elon Musk’s DOGE?

That casts Elon Musk and his unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a new light—as the vehicle for slashing agency functions to a skeletal state and outsourcing the rest to what would be a much more lightly regulated private sector. Musk himself at a recent Morgan Stanley conference suggested that the government privatize “as much as possible."

The DOGE cuts so far are not enough to make a dent in the national debt or offset Trump’s proposed tax cuts for the wealthy. Nor do they make government more efficient, which would require a thoughtful assessment. There is no evidence that the “fraud, waste and abuse" Musk claims to have discovered amount to anything more than spending with which he and Trump disagree.

But as a means to push the nation closer to mass privatization of services? Now the cuts make sense.

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Yet, cuts like these will create considerable disruption to American life, particularly the parts of the country where Trump is most popular. Norman Ornstein, a political analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said he has never seen efforts so rapid and widespread. “The people who will suffer the most damage are in red states," he told me. “But we are going to start seeing horror stories all over the country. People who don’t think government does anything for them will discover what it means when there is no more safety net, no protections, no more Stage 4 clinical trials because private companies won’t fund them."

The problem with privatization is that it seldom works. Private companies operate under different parameters from the federal government. Their primary goal is to maximize profit.

Consider the post office. Mail must go to every nook and hamlet in the US, no matter how remote. Wells Fargo, in a report on privatizing the postal service, recommends eliminating the costly “universal service obligation." Delivery to ‘unprofitable’ regions such as rural areas could become intermittent or just stop. Trump won 63% of the vote in rural areas and small towns.

In many rural areas, mail carriers remain a lifeline, bringing vital prescriptions to seniors who are either housebound or far from a pharmacy. The Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, fills 80% of its prescriptions by mail service. Moving to private mail delivery could reduce accessibility and raise prices. About 60% of veterans voted for Trump.

Or take education. Trump has ordered Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a former pro wrestling promoter with no practical education experience, to shutter her department or come as close as possible. The department spends most of its money helping rural students, students with disabilities and low-income students. A majority of low-income Americans voted for Trump.

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Trump has also made a priority of school vouchers, which let families use tax money earmarked for public school to send their kids to private school. But vouchers seldom fully cover private school tuition and other costs such as books, uniforms and transport. More importantly, such schools can pick and choose attendees, leaving few options for disabled students or those with special needs. When put to a ballot test last November, voters in Nebraska, Kentucky and Colorado all rejected vouchers.

Then there’s weather forecasting, which is crucial to mitigating the effects of extreme weather. Yet, Musk cut over 1,300 workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the National Weather Service and the Hurricane Center.

Again, Trump’s own voters will shoulder most of the burden. An analysis by the AP found that red states have received 15% more per capita in federal disaster aid since 2011, because they have been slightly more exposed to natural disasters.

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Conservatives have been nibbling around the edges of privatizing government functions for at least 40 years, but with Trump and Musk, they have hit the jackpot. Once departments and agencies are skeletonized by Musk and Trump, they will be too crippled to fulfil their duties. And if companies step in to provide these essential services, the public may find they are priced out of reach. ©Bloomberg