For moderate voters that Democrats need to win back, the issue is a swing and a miss.

“Democrats unveil legislation in a bid to halt USAID elimination,” Lauren Irwin revealed for The Hill this week. “A group of House Democrats have introduced legislation in a bid to stop the Trump administration from dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).”

“The bill, led by Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), was introduced Tuesday and is called the Protect U.S. National Security Act,” added Irwin. “It aims to prove that USAID reform should abide by laws and ‘not harm American soft power’ as the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looks to cut federal spending at various agencies and departments.”

But while progressive media outlets like The Nation complain piteously that “Trump is Outdoing Himself”, mega podcasting superstar Joe Rogan has a completely different take on Elon Musk’s efforts to reform USAID.

The narrative offered by Elon Musk and Donald Trump, as amplified by new media personalities and independent media outlets, that “the government wastes too much money” is simple, straightforward, and powerful.

“At this point, I am 100% certain that the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR,” Elon Musk posted to X on February 11, 2025. “It’s not even close.”

The narrative offered by Democrats — that USAID is indispensable to American “soft power” — isn’t nearly as compelling. If it is a matter of American “soft power”, USAID should be headed by the State Department. If USAID is a matter of “national security,” it should be housed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Both of which are under the purview of President Donald Trump.

Even when progressive media outlets think they are criticizing Musk’s efforts, they are inadvertently making it sound…kind of awesome.

“How the world’s richest man laid waste the US government,” wrote Nick Robins-Early for The Guardian on February 4, 2025. “Over the weekend, workers with Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (Doge) clashed with civil servants over demands for unfettered access to the computer systems of major US government agencies in a breakneck series of confrontations. When the dust settled, several top officials who opposed the takeover had been pushed out, and Musk’s allies had gained control.”

“The New York Democratic senator Chuck Schumer wrote on Tuesday morning: ‘An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government. DOGE is not a real government agency. DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law.’ Musk responded that the reaction was ‘hysterical.’”

Others have responded that any discussions of an unelected, shadow government should start with a full disclosure of who was running things during the Biden presidency.

Even less compelling are arguments that Elon Musk — and by extension, Donald Trump — isn’t the one reform/audit USAID. First and foremost, Donald Trump won the election, with help from Elon Musk and a cadre of other former Democrats.

Secondly, and sadly, the Democrats — elected and activist — decrying this project are condemning it, but they aren’t offering to audit the agency themselves or be part of a bipartisan committee to do so. They aren’t offering to participate in this effort — if only to make sure Musk and his associates are working transparently.

Instead, they want Mr. Musk and — presumably — President Donald Trump to turn around and go home. Some progressives even want Musk thrown in jail.

Which would be a much scarier prospect to Elon Musk and his associates if former President Joe Biden hadn’t just issued preemptive, blanket pardons for unspecified crimes for which no one was ever accused in a court of law, let alone convicted, for a number of high officials, associates, family members, et al.

President Joe Biden’s parting gift to the nation was a fully empowered Trump administration. They are now able to operate, at least in part, from the Joe Biden/Democratic Party political playbook.

Like the Democratic Party did in 2020 — weakening election laws, making special exceptions, mail-in-voting extensions, mostly in heavily Democratic-leaning districts and hotly contended swing districts. The Democratic Party knew some of those changes challenged in court would eventually be lost. But by then, it would be too late.

Turnabout is fair play: The Trump administration seems to be playing the same game. Some of the legal challenges brought by Democrats against various DOGE actions are bound to bear fruit; but by then, it will be too late. Whatever DOGE is trying to accomplish will have already been accomplished.

Democrats may not like it much, but they might do better to join the efforts to audit USAID. In the short term, it doesn’t appear to be a fight they can win.

“Democrats Are Falling For Trump and Musk’s Foreign Aid Trap,” Rachel Bade warned for POLITICO on February 4, 2025. “Three veteran strategists want their party to be more thoughtful about fighting Trump’s anti-bureaucracy campaign.”

“My heart is with the people out on the street outside USAID, but my head tells me: ‘Man, Trump will be well satisfied to have this fight,’” David Axelrod told POLITICO. “When you talk about cuts, the first thing people say is: Cut foreign aid.”

“Part of the problem for the Democratic Party is that it has become a stalwart defender of institutions at a time when people are enraged at institutions,” Axelrod said. “And they become — in the minds of a lot of voters — an elite party, and to a lot of folks who are trying to scuffle out there and get along, this will seem like an elite passion.”

“You don’t fight every fight,” echoed Rahm Emanuel, who is rumored to be angling for a 2028 run at the Oval Office. “You don’t swing at every pitch. And my view is — while I care about the USAID as a former ambassador — that’s not the hill I’m going to die on.”

“Defending USAID Is Political Suicide for Democrats,” warned independent progressive soothsayer Ruy Teixeira.

Will anyone listen?

(contributing writer, Brooke Bell)