The implications that Trump is an idiot just keep comming!

[planosteve]

As the Department of Government Efficiency continues to make swift cuts to the federal workforce and government spending, a handful of Republicans have begun to push back.

They're not criticizing the existence of DOGE or decrying Elon Musk as an "unelected bureaucrat," as Democrats have.

In fact, they've each taken pains to emphasize their support for making the government work more efficiently as they've spoken up.

Yet in a stream of recent social media posts, interviews, and public statements, a growing number of Republicans have begun to criticize aspects of DOGE's work, saying that the cuts are too rapid and indiscriminate or warning that their particular states will suffer as a result.

In a social media post on Saturday, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy suggested his state would suffer if new hires at the Federal Bureau of Investigation were terminated.

"I am all for efficiency and ultimately downsizing the federal government, but firing large numbers of new FBI agents is not the way to achieve this," Cassidy wrote. "Louisiana specifically benefits from newly hired FBI agents. We need to add to our law enforcement, not take away."

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that recent reductions in the federal workforce, including cuts to the National Park Service, were "leaving holes in our communities."

"I share the administration's goal of reducing the size of the federal government, but this approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants," Murkowski wrote on X. "Indiscriminate workforce cuts aren't efficient and won't fix the federal budget, but they will hurt good people who have answered the call to public service to do important work for our nation.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire teamed up to urge President Donald Trump's administration to exempt members of the defense industrial base from the Musk-inspired buyout program. They cited the impact it would have on a shipyard on the border of their two states.

"Our shipyards cannot afford to reduce their workforces," the duo wrote in a letter sent last week. "While we continue to identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reductions to the size of our defense industrial workforce cannot be one of them."

Republican Sen. John Curtis, meanwhile, told the Utah-based Standard-Examiner that if there was "one thing" he could change about DOGE, it would be to slow it down: "It's moving so fast, it's not really factoring in the human element. That these are real lives, real people. They have kids. And we're really adding a tremendous amount of stress, even to jobs that are not going to go away.

"I think we can do a better job in Washington of bringing that compassion to the DOGE conversation, bringing that awareness that these are real people with real lives," Curtis continued. "We need to make sure we're always doing this with dignity as well."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Roughly 75,000 federal employees accepted the "buyout" offered by the Trump administration, which purports to allow workers to agree to resign while being paid through the end of September. The legality of that offer is still being challenged in court.

Additionally, thousands of recently hired federal employees working at a variety of federal agencies — including the Forest Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Department of Veterans Affairs — were fired last week.

[Mark]

The Republicans that are currently bashing President Trump are the Republicans that have always really been Democrats.

[planosteve]

The Republicans that are currently bashing President Trump are the Republicans that have always really been Democrats.

Not me. I was a Republican from the time I could vote until I moved to Colorado. Then I became an independent.

[GFB]

The Republicans that are currently bashing President Trump are the Republicans that have always really been Democrats.

Not me. I was a Republican from the time I could vote until I moved to Colorado. Then I became an independent.

It’s quite obvious to anyone that reads your stuff, you have no idea what being a Republican in 2025 actually means.

[planosteve]

So, what does being a Republican in 2025 actually mean?
I agree with Trump on some things and actually think that he is probably preferable to Biden.

[planosteve]

Remember the COVID scam? Making love with the dictator of N. Korea? The only reason he's back is he was running against a girl.

[jellowrestling]

Remember the COVID scam? Making love with the dictator of N. Korea? The only reason he's back is he was running against a girl.

He was running against an inept, corrupt old geezer and mopping the floor with him, so they switched to the girl out of desperation.

[planosteve]

Remember the COVID scam? Making love with the dictator of N. Korea? The only reason he's back is he was running against a girl.

He was running against an inept, corrupt old geezer and mopping the floor with him, so they switched to the girl out of desperation.

And the inept, corrupt old geezer beat him!

[planosteve]

My guess is that Trump's approval will decline from now on. Especially regarding the Ukraine war. The only question is how low will it go?

[Mark]

My guess is that Trump's approval will decline from now on. Especially regarding the Ukraine war. The only question is how low will it go?

President Trump is going to end the Ukraine war. Who is against that?

Are you a war pig like the Cheneys?

[planosteve]

My guess is that Trump's approval will decline from now on. Especially regarding the Ukraine war. The only question is how low will it go?

President Trump is going to end the Ukraine war. Who is against that?

Are you a war pig like the Cheneys?

"War Pig"? I've not heard that one before! Did you think it up by yourself?

[planosteve]

Biden ended the years long war in Afghanistan in the first few weeks.