Should conservatives be cheering DOGE?

Yes and No. Every conservative can get behind the charter we thought Trump gave to DOGE. Every taxpayer should get behind the elimination of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. So what's the problem? The problem is in the execution. Few of us could have envisioned DOGE being empowered to take over federal agencies quite literally. DOGE apparently was also empowered to make its own definitions, declare its alleged successes, and they were quick to do it ...and the MAGA crowd was there to cheer. "At last, SOMEONE is getting rid of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse for us taxpayer, HOORAY"!!! Apparently, they believed Trump's insinuation that most federal workers get paid and don't have to come to work. That wasn't true before DOGE, but it is now. DOGE illegally rattled the entire federal workforce by coercing the Office of Personnel Management to go along with the summary dismissal of thousands of "probationary" employees, typically those hired within the past 12 months and those who assumed new positions within that time. There was no analysis of whether any specific employee was not needed, they were all terminated. MAGA devotees cheered, until they started realizing just what services would be impacted. DOGE very craftily started with USAID, an agency few people know much about, but was easy to demonize because its charter was to handle many foreign relief programs. DOGE mocked the agency's work while doing no objective analysis. MAGA cheered louder. DOGE moved on and MAGA was driven to a frenzy with the firing of IRS employees. Then DOGE stepped in the poop. They recommended huge cuts at the VA and Social Security. WHAT??? Hasn't Trump always said he loved veterans (even though neither he nor most of his cronies never served) and that he would never touch Social Security? "No problem" says Trump. "Most of those people never came to work anyway. You will get your benefits. It's magic!" Fast forward to today and federal agencies are scrambling to rehire fired employees under court order. I haven't researched every agency involved, but I think we can be reasonably assured they are all doing essentially the same thing. The agency letters that I have read which were sent to rehired employees all instruct them NOT to go back to work. They are advised that they will be paid at the same rates as when they were dismissed and that pay will be retroactive back to the date of dismissal. Under Trump's direction, their plan is to try to get the Temporary Restraining Orders dismissed so they can fire them all again without any analysis of the importance of the individual jobs. Trump has created a self-fulfilling prophecy and now he can point to thousands of federal workers who get paid but don't come to work. And MAGA continues to cheer.

But will they be allowed to go back to work?