Melanie Stansbury: “I rise today to give an ode, perhaps a eulogy, to the downfall of DOGE and to the people's movement that brought about…”

“I rise today to give an ode, perhaps a eulogy, to the downfall of DOGE and to the people's movement that brought about its demise. As we say good-bye to the departing, we take solace in knowing that our democracy endures in our people and our communities. The centralized Department of Government Efficiency, imagined in the insane mind of Elon Musk and empowered by those around him, which wreaked havoc on the vital programs that sustain our communities appears to no longer exist. In fact, the Director of OPM said just a couple of weeks ago: It doesn't exist. Even Musk himself downplayed his involvement this weekend, calling it merely a very interesting side quest. While the administration claims DOGE is now integrated into the agencies themselves, its existence as a formal priority appears to finally be dead. Even in Congress, the future of the DOGE Subcommittee, created by once eager and enthusiastic GOP allies on the Oversight Committee, is uncertain. The explosive breakup of Musk and Trump just a few months ago, and now the sudden pending retirement of the subcommittee chairwoman over the Epstein files and GOP threats and lies, leave the DOGE congressional arm uncertain and rudderless, but perhaps with the opportunity to be repurposed. Services for the departed will not be held. In lieu of flowers, please, America, continue to organize and fight for our democracy.”