My book about my time inside DOGE launched last week, and I've watched friends who privately cheer me on go completely silent in public.
asserted
who → launch → public
That’s how toxic the stigma around DOGE has become.
asserted
stigma → ’ → DOGE
And that stigma is built on a version of events I barely recognize.
asserted
I → build → events
My experience inside DOGE was almost nothing like what I read about in the mainstream news.
asserted
I → read → news
The fairest and most balanced coverage I can remember was our interview on Fox News with Bret Baier in March 2025—but let me tell you what it was actually like.
asserted
it → remember → what
As the DOGE lead and Acting Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of the Interior, I saw the accusations that we cut everything indiscriminately.
asserted
we → see → everything
Along with my DOGE colleagues and the incredible leadership of Secretary Doug Burgum, we went through thousands of contracts and grants ourselves and asked the people who knew them best to help us.
asserted
who → go → us
Our request was simple: "Defend the spend" and tell us what was "mission critical."
asserted
mission → defend → us
If a contract couldn't be defended, or even explained, why were hardworking Americans paying for it?
asserted
Americans → defend → it
We cut what didn't make sense and made individuals accountable.
asserted
individuals → cut → sense
Then there's the claim that we didn't respect career civil servants.
uncertain
we → be → servants
I have tremendous respect for the many hardworking, genuine, and intelligent people who serve in government.
asserted
who → have → government
What shocked me wasn't the people—it was the system around them: the inefficient organizations, the decades-old technology, and the near-total absence of accountability.
asserted
it → shock → accountability
Many good people were trapped inside a machine built to resist common sense.
asserted
people → trap → sense
Did we get along with everyone?
asserted
we → get → everyone
We were there to challenge the mindset that "this is how it's always been done" as stewards of the American taxpayer.
asserted
it → challenge → taxpayer
We intentionally disrupted a culture that had grown comfortable with the status quo—and yes, that made some jobs less comfortable.
asserted
jobs → disrupt → quo
Americans work hard for those dollars and deserve a government that spends them prudently.
asserted
that → work → them
But I left Washington with far more respect for career government workers than I expected to have.
asserted
I → leave → workers
What shocked me wasn't the people—it was the system around them: the inefficient organizations, the decades-old technology, and the near-total absence of accountability.
asserted
it → shock → accountability
Many good people were trapped inside a machine built to resist common sense.
asserted
people → trap → sense
They are great Americans who sacrificed enormous private-sector opportunities to put their talents to work for their love of country.
asserted
who → sacrifice → country
Second, the caricature erases the roughly 20 brilliant women on our team, three of them on mine at Interior.
asserted
caricature → erase → Interior
Did they want to step into the spotlight amid all the media hostility?
asserted
they → want → hostility
Of course not—I feared for my own family's safety, and theirs.
asserted
I → fear → safety
They did it anyway and kept working relentlessly to reduce the deficit and help American families.
asserted
They → do → families
I keep hearing people ask how anyone could work for someone as volatile as Elon Musk.
uncertain
anyone → hear → Musk
I saw the opposite.
asserted
I → see → opposite
I saw a man so locked in on the problem that he sometimes slept on the floor in a nearby office.
asserted
he → see → office
In our meetings, two things struck me that I'll never forget: his ability to be completely present with a problem until it was solved, and a sense of urgency so strong that everyone in the room felt it.
asserted
everyone → strike → it
His motivation, as best I could tell, was simple: a genuine belief that an insolvent America can't solve its own problems, let alone the world's.
uncertain
America → tell → problems
I happen to agree.
asserted
I → happen → ?
The rest of our senior team—patriots including Steve Davis, James Burnham, Anthony Armstrong, Josh Gruenbaum, and Stephen Ehikian, among others—brought that same seriousness.
asserted
rest → include → seriousness
When the criticism got louder, we worked harder.
asserted
we → get → ?
I wish more Americans could have seen the teamwork and the love of country in those rooms.
uncertain
Americans → wish → rooms
Despite our best efforts, we didn't accomplish all that we set out to do.
asserted
we → accomplish → that
But we tried harder than anyone outside those rooms will ever know—and we proved something that matters.
asserted
that → try → something
We proved that the operations of our government have enormous room for improvement, and that talented people willing to do the work can find problems and fix them.
asserted
people → prove → them
That's exactly why treating DOGE as a failure to be buried is the wrong lesson.
asserted
treating → treat → failure
The right lesson is to learn from it and build something better.
asserted
lesson → learn → something
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
