I recently renewed my passport and was sternly warned on the website that it would take 4 to 6 weeks to process and I should plan not to travel internationally. I figured it would take even longer than that given all the turmoil and cuts lately. But get this. I got the thing in less than two weeks. Signed, sealed, delivered.

Does this mean the DOGE crew were right all along, and the government really can get by with much less? Maybe. But I think it’s more likely that the admin is making the deepest cuts to long-term government investments, while leaving intact and well-staffed these immediate, citizen-facing services. It’s a deliberate, cynical strategy:

1. Identify programs that, if shut down, won’t have negative impacts for several years.
2. Cut those programs.
3. Announce X zillion dollars in taxpayer savings.
4. Point to efficient passport renewals and the USPS as evidence that the taxpayer savings represent increased efficiency, not diminished benefits.
5. In five years, when the long-term cuts start to show their impact and shit starts to hit the fan, blame the new Democratic administration for mismanaging the “beautiful” hand it was dealt.

Sigh.