Victor Davis Hanson: Sorry Liberals. DOGE is 100% Legal. Here’s Why

Is the Left taking the bait? While many in the legacy media continues to berate Elon Musk for his role in defunding bloated federal programs and agencies, Donald Trump remains largely unscathed. Is this part of a larger strategy by President Trump, asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words”? “He's more legitimate—or he has more statutory legitimacy—than earlier presidential advisors, like Harry Hopkins, who moved into the White House under the FDR administration, or Bernard Baruch, who basically ran two world wars, in terms of domestic production, under Woodrow Wilson and FDR. So, let's just dispel the idea that he's doing anything unusual.” “As far as the executive orders that created the DOGE program and eliminated USAID—that was perfectly legal in itself—USAID was created by John F. Kennedy in 1961, by an executive order. There was a statutory direction for the president to disperse foreign aides into a comprehensive body, but it didn't say USAID—he could do whatever he wanted. And so, Donald Trump has decided to end autonomous USAID and fold it into the State Department for disaster relief or poverty relief or famine relief.”   “All Donald Trump is doing is saying, ‘I don't believe the impoundment act is legal. We'll see what the Supreme court—but I'm just following the precedent that Joe Biden did.’ But now the shoe's on the other foot. For Victor’s latest thoughts, go to: https://victorhanson.com/ Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHqkXbgqrDrDVInBMSoGQgQ The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ 00:00 Introduction to Elon Musk's Role 00:24 Clarifying Elon Musk's Government Position 02:04 Historical Context and Legal Authority 03:29 Controversies and Legal Precedents 05:45 Media Perception and Public Reaction 06:31 Conclusion and Final Thoughts