Keen On

Not everyone sees Trump or Musk as an existential threat to the American federal bureaucracy. In the March cover story of Harper’s, their Washington DC editor Andrew Cockburn argues that this latest war against the American state is “futile”. He expresses skepticism that DOGE’s efforts to dismantle the Federal will succeed, suggesting courts will likely block them as they did during Trump's first term. He predicts Musk's influence will diminish and that Trump will eventually sideline him. Cockburn also underlines the "contractor state" where much government work is already privatized, making structural change difficult. He criticizes Democrats for lacking energy and ideas, and suggests they need to disconnect from corporate interests and address issues like housing affordability and insurance costs to reconnect with voters.Here are the 5 KEEN ON takeaways from our conversation with Andrew Cockburn:* Cockburn believes Trump's attempts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy will likely fail, as the courts and bur