Ideologic Frenzy? Meeting a Deadline? Both?

One way to view Trump/Musk's ruthless trample, slash, and destroy assault on the non-defense half of the federal government is as the vicious hubris of ideologic fanaticism. But there's also a deeper strategy to their frenzy.

The first rule of investigative journalism is "Follow the Money." Eight years ago during the first year of Trump' first reign, Republicans rammed through the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 (TCJA) which gave massive gifts to billionaires and mega-corporations. But some of those cuts that are most dear to hearts of the Donor Class are going to expire at midnight, December 31st of this year -- unless they are extended or made permanent, which Trump/Musk are determined to do. And not only do they want the TCJA cuts made permanent, they want to enact yet even more tax cuts for corporate America and the obscenely wealthy.

But extending the TCJA cuts will cost the federal government an estimated $4.6 Trillion in lost income. Increasing them will cost even more.

Democratic Members of Congress proclaim their opposition to Republican "tax-cuts for the rich" legislation, but somehow, time after time, when the final vote is taken just enough Democrats always vote with the Republicans to satisfy the billionaire bros and corporate donors. Unlike Republicans who enforce strict obedience on their caucus, Democratic Party leaders never sanction, or even rebuke, Dems who vote Republican when it's a matter of gratifying the greed of the rich.

With narrow margins in both House and Senate, extending the TCJA cuts with just Republican votes is theoretically possible. But Republican "Deficit Hawks" in the House (and to a lesser degree in the Senate) are balking. They are demanding massive cuts to domestic, non-defense spending as the price of their votes.

Under the congressional "PAYGO" rule, if new legislation increases the federal deficit, spending cuts to both domestic AND military spending are AUTOMATICALLY triggered to offset the cost. Yet when there is political consensus to do so, Congress has always easily maneuvered around the PAYGO rule.

PAYGO, however, was designed and enacted by the Deficit Hawks to give them a tool they can use to force drastic cuts in social spending. So it may well be that in addition to ideological fervor, the purpose of the current ruthless destruction is to assure enough votes to smoothly extend (or make permanent) the TCJA tax cuts for the billionaires.

Trump/Musk know that their assaults will be challenged in federal court. Which might delay the budget cuts demanded by the Deficit Hawks past the TCJA December 31st deadline. Perhaps their strategy is to rush the cases through federal district courts (where they are likely to lose) and then expedite them directly to the highly-partisan Republican Supreme Court where they are likely to win. If so, for them time is of the essence -- hence their frenetic slash and burn tactics.