 "Elon Musk speaks as President Donald Trump holds his first Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington. AP")
The Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) has emerged as the most unpopular agency in the Trump administration, according to a survey.
Doge is the brainchild of billionaire Elon Musk, the principal ally of President Trump, that has practically taken over the US government. While the stated purpose of the Doge was to audit the government and cut wasteful expenditure, it has essentially sought to take charge of human resources management and finances of large swathes of the US government. It has speerheaded the firings of government officials and curtailment of several programmes.
While Musk has pitched Doge as a central element of the ‘Make America Great Again’ vision, the YouGov/Economist has found in its latest survey that it is the most unpopular federal government agency.
Out of the 21 agencies covered by the survey, the maximum number of people, 21 per cent, said that Doge should be shut down.
Most Americans reject Musk’s role
Musk is also the most onpupular member of the Trump team with a net rating of minus seven, according to the survey.
The survey also found that 63 per cent people said Musk has much more influence in the government than what they are comfortable with.
The situation is such that even 49 per cent of Republicans think that Musk’s influence is much larger than it should be.
Overall, 42 per cent of people believe that the Trump administration’s efforts to cut costs in the form of shutting down agencies and firing government officials have gone too far.