Erroneous Mistakes in Governing | OP-ed —You’d think after COVID-19, America’s leaders would have learned that public health isn’t a game of “turn it off and on again.” But no—Elon Musk, now a central figure in Trump’s administration, accidentally cut Ebola prevention funding during an active outbreak in Uganda. Then, as if he were debugging a glitchy Tesla, he simply turned it back on.
Musk reassured everyone that there was “no interruption” in Ebola prevention efforts, a claim met with the same enthusiasm as a Windows update that restarts in the middle of your Zoom call. Representative Don Beyer summed it up best: “An average person who did something as incompetent as ‘accidentally canceling Ebola prevention’ wouldn’t be applauded; they’d be fired.” But hey, who needs accountability when you have Twitter to spin the narrative?
This fiasco is eerily reminiscent of 2018 when Trump disbanded the National Security Council’s pandemic response team. That decision left the U.S. scrambling when COVID-19 hit. Now, history repeats itself, but this time with Musk playing DJ, casually remixing America’s global health response like a bad techno track.
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing: The Great USAID Vanishing Act
What happens when you put a billionaire with a god complex in charge of humanitarian aid? You get USAID disappearing faster than Musk’s credibility on X (formerly Twitter). The administration dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, cutting funding for global disease prevention, hunger relief, and political stability programs. Because nothing screams America First like abandoning the world in its time of need.
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing | This decision wasn’t just reckless—it was dangerous. Cutting USAID funding delayed crucial Ebola response efforts, leaving Uganda to fend for itself. The global health community didn’t just frown upon this move; they collectively facepalmed. But don’t worry, Musk assures us it was all in the name of “cost-cutting.”
And let’s be real, Trump’s praise for Musk’s budget-slashing genius is like celebrating a chef for saving money by removing the fire extinguishers from the kitchen. Sure, he’s reducing expenses, but at what cost?
Cabinet Meetings: Where National Security Goes to Die
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing | In a meeting that felt more like a Silicon Valley shareholder call than a governance discussion, Musk proposed cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget. How? By requiring government employees to “justify” their weekly tasks. Because nothing boosts efficiency like a bureaucratic nightmare of explaining why your job matters every single week.
Trump, always eager to hand out participation trophies to billionaires, called Musk’s ideas “revolutionary.” Meanwhile, national security experts were less impressed—especially when Musk’s cost-cutting measures led to the firing of personnel responsible for securing nuclear weapons facilities. That’s right: the geniuses running the country thought, Who needs trained professionals handling our nuclear arsenal when we can just YOLO it?
The backlash was so intense that the administration had to rehire the dismissed staff. Which begs the question—why fire them in the first place? Was this an elaborate game of government musical chairs? Or was the goal to see how much damage could be done before someone with actual experience said, “Hey, maybe let’s not play Russian roulette with nuclear security”?
Mass Layoffs: Because Who Needs Jobs Anyway?
DOGE (the nickname for Musk’s government efficiency program) took a sledgehammer to federal jobs, cutting over 100,000 positions across various agencies. The IRS? Down 7,000 employees. The Department of Health and Human Services? Lost 5,200 workers. The result? A government running on fumes while Trump and Musk pat themselves on the back for “streamlining” operations.
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing | The situation got so bad that even government insiders had enough. On February 25, 2025, 21 members of the U.S. Digital Service resigned in protest, calling Musk’s budget cuts an attempt to “dismantle critical public services.” When the people inside the machine start jumping ship, you know it’s bad.
And let’s not forget the optics of these layoffs. Picture Musk, chainsaw in hand, slashing through federal jobs while gleefully tweeting about Dogecoin’s latest dip. It’s like watching a billionaire play SimCity, except real people are losing their livelihoods.
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing: Elon Musk, The Unelected Emperor?
One of the biggest questions swirling around Washington is: Why does Elon Musk have this much power? He was never elected. He never went through Senate confirmation. Yet here he is, slashing budgets, making foreign policy statements, and “accidentally” canceling life-saving health programs.
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing | His role in the Trump administration is raising concerns about the dangerous overlap between corporate influence and government power. Musk, a man who once flamethrowered his way into the public eye, now wields more control over the country than most elected officials. It’s a dystopian scenario that even Black Mirror would struggle to make believable.
The administration argues that Musk’s influence is necessary for bold reforms. Critics, however, see it differently: a billionaire businessman running the country like a startup experiment is not leadership—it’s a tech bro fever dream.
Erroneous Mistakes in Governing: Foreign Policy: The “Let’s Just Wing It” Approach
If domestic policy decisions weren’t chaotic enough, let’s talk foreign policy. Trump announced plans to negotiate directly with Putin to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Bold move? Maybe. A potential diplomatic disaster? Absolutely.
Meanwhile, Musk is spearheading a deal with Ukraine on critical minerals, adding another layer of corporate interference in government affairs. Because who needs experienced diplomats when you have the guy who made Tesla?
The administration is also floating the idea of relocating federal offices to cut costs. It’s almost as if they think moving government functions is like shifting servers in a data center—except, you know, people’s lives and national security are at stake.
The Future: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Let’s recap: Erroneous Mistakes in Governing
✔️ Cut Ebola prevention (and then “fixed” it)
✔️ Dismantled USAID, leaving global health efforts in chaos
✔️ Fired essential nuclear security personnel (then rehired them after public outrage)
✔️ Laid off over 100,000 federal workers, crippling public services
✔️ Gave Musk unchecked power without any form of democratic oversight
✔️ Treated foreign policy like a billionaire’s personal game of Risk
At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if the next policy proposal involved selling the White House as an NFT. If they’re willing to gamble with public health, security, and the economy, what’s stopping them from auctioning off the Constitution on eBay?
Honestly, watching this administration is like witnessing a slow-motion train wreck—except the train is on fire, the conductor is tweeting conspiracy theories, and the passengers are expected to trust the process.
For the love of all things sane, can this political fever dream end before they decide gravity is a socialist conspiracy and try to repeal it?
