URBANDALE, Iowa — Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst has hailed Elon Musk and the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency as a necessary force in Washington, D.C., calling it “a storm that is headed this way that will sweep over this city and forever alter the way it operates.”
The state’s governor, Kim Reynolds, has lined up with DOGE, too, in testimony she gave Tuesday to a U.S. House committee.
Nearly 1,000 miles away, people in a politically mixed suburb of Iowa’s largest metro area are well-informed on the developments of the massive effort to slash spending and defund federal agencies. Unlike their top elected officials, several of them are expressing concerns.
Some question the delivery of government services or whether Musk has the necessary authority. Others back Musk, saying his action is needed given the risk of doing nothing to sharply curb federal spending.
Below are excerpts from interviews conducted Wednesday and Thursday in Urbandale, a northwest suburb of Des Moines.
Musk’s actions are not just “so overdue,” said Nelson, who added that he thought the federal workforce was bloated.
He said some conservative House Republicans’ proposal to cut spending by $2.5 trillion sounds good, but not in the context of its 10-year time frame.
“Over 10 years? That means nothing,” Nelson said.
“I want great education, clean water, clean air, great health care. But I don’t believe a massive bureaucracy is the way to achieve those things,” he said. “The reason I want Elon and DOGE to succeed is I want them to take a hatchet to all this so the money actually goes to doing good.”
“I’m very supportive of it,” Nelson said.
Olsen, a retired state employee, says she is concerned that a sudden reduction in the federal workforce will disrupt the flow of federal money to state programs that depend on it.
“Complicated would be the nice way of saying it,” Olsen said.
“The state receives a lot of federal funding to support its services, whether you’re talking about education, programs for the aging population, rehabilitation services or public health initiatives,” she said. “What happens when the federal agencies are decimated? Does that funding get out on time? Vulnerable people in Iowa depend on that.”
Thompson says it is a “little scary” that Musk has access to sensitive government systems.
“For that matter, it’s not like he is someone who Congress confirms,” Thompson added, referring to Trump’s Cabinet appointees who require Senate confirmation. “So, not only did we not elect him, he’s someone who seems to have free rein and has not been confirmed by those people we do elect.”
Thompson’s was a common refrain among those uneasy about Musk’s position and access.
“He has access to a lot of information and no one can say whether he has passed any background evaluation,” he said. “What checks has he undergone to justify this broad access?”
Taff says government is bloated and needs cutting but entrusting such a massive undertaking to Musk suggests, in his mind wrongly, that important government services are equal to business expenditures.
Furthermore, the retired Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and spent years appealing the Department of Veterans Affairs’ denial of his disability claims.
“You have people like myself who require veterans’ benefits because my body and my mind has been degraded, while Veterans Affairs is already way understaffed,” Taff said.
“Ask the people now who are on waiting lists like I was,” he said. “I had to fight tooth and nail for six years to get 100% disability.”
“So, do I feel like trimming needs to be done? Absolutely,” Taff said. “Do I feel that attacking the infrastructure of the social programs that help people and, to that end, help keep what I can do for the economy afloat? No, that’s not the answer.”
Shaw said nothing Trump is doing by delegating the role to Musk breaks the Republican candidate’s campaign pledges.
“Someone is finally holding the gun to their head and saying: ‘Nope. It’s done. It’s over,'” Shaw said of Musk’s aggressive efforts to press for millions of federal employees to consider deferred resignation or retirement with eight months of pay.
“I get the uproar,” Shaw said. “But you have this moment now and Trump, by handing this job to Musk, is sticking to his promise.”
Shaw attributes the sudden and sweeping action being attempted by Musk to decades of failure by past presidents and Congresses to act.
“My hope is that they hold the entire government hostage for however long it takes and that Trump says I’m not going to sign a bill that doesn’t balance the budget,” Shaw said. “We’re not going to do this anymore.”
Abou says the decision to put Musk in a lead role to slash government spending is an inherent conflict, considering his business ties to the federal government.
“It seems aimed at helping a very wealthy person preserve his wealth,” said Abou, who is also a part-time personal care assistant.
Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX holds billions of dollars in contracts with NASA. The federal aerospace agency has awarded more than $4 billion to Musk’s company for two human moon landings, scheduled for later this decade. Also, Musk has been at odds with the Federal Aviation Administration over what he contends is excessive bureaucracy.
“So, you have someone who is not going to jeopardize his own interests, but is adamant about deep cuts that are going to cost a lot of people their jobs,” Abou said. “Even if some spending cuts are justified, his approach is going to make a lot of people poorer.”
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