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Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. That’s Deliberate.

This is how you sever the positive relationship between people and government—ensuring there’s nothing left to defend.

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The New Republic
Feb 17, 2025
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by Liza Featherstone

Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg/Getty Images

One particularly sadistic aspect of Elon Musk’s and Donald Trump’s rampage through our government is that they’re cutting programs that are popular. To some observers, that might seem like bad politics, in line with the juvenile, amateur-hour image of this administration. But the unpopular…

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