The Donald Trump-Elon Musk bromance is all the rage in Washington right now. And what a show it is!

I spoke at CPAC outside the nation's capital last Thursday just a few hours before Musk, the world's wealthiest man, came on stage with 1980s-style sunglasses and an imitation chainsaw, hailing himself as the "DOGEfather" who will take that proverbial chainsaw to the federal Leviathan. Apparently, Musk and his "Department of Government Efficiency" nerds are literally sleeping in their offices in the White House-adjoining Eisenhower Executive Office Building, as dedicated as one can possibly be to the daunting task at hand. Meanwhile, Musk adorns major magazine covers and Trump and Musk sit down together for much-anticipated joint national interviews.

It's all a wild development—not something many of us had on our bingo cards, so to speak, about a year ago or so. What can we make of it all? And is this marriage built for the long haul?

First, it's worth emphasizing that many old-school, libertarian-sympathetic, "shrink the government at all costs"-style Republicans now owe Donald Trump and his MAGA movement an apology. For decades, Republicans ran for office on the Tea Party-era Grover Norquist-ian sentiment that the federal government should be "small enough to drown in a bathtub." And what exactly do all those Republicans have to show for their efforts? Not much! By contrast, it is Trump, an entirely different breed of nationalist-populist Republican who has repeatedly disavowed making any cuts to bankrupting entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, who is now presiding over the most meaningful attempt to cut the administrative state and professional bureaucracy in my lifetime. That is an astonishing development—one filled with no small degree of irony.

As to whether or not Trump and Musk are built to last—frankly, who knows. But it is noteworthy that what Musk and DOGE are doing right now is very popular with the American people. According to a recent Harvard-Harris poll, roughly 70% of voters think the federal government's expenditures are filled with waste, fraud, and inefficiency, and the same percentage of voters also supports the goal of cutting $1 trillion of expenditures. But Congress will have to act in order for most DOGE-orchestrated cuts to really stick, and Republicans have a narrow margin right now in the House. There is also the matter of the courts, who have already proven themselves eager to gum up the Trump administration works. And perhaps above all, as it comes to the personal Trump-Musk dynamic, there is always the mercurial figure of President Trump himself. Will he simply get tired of sharing the spotlight with Elon Musk and want him gone? It's entirely possible—in fact, I think it's probably a pretty safe bet.

But for now at least, the Swamp is being drained. Let's all just enjoy the ride—and hope that Congress locks in most of the DOGE-initiated budgetary gains.

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