The Left has Repeatedly Fought Transparency

The attacks on Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE are bizarre and laughable. People only need to know the disdain which the Left holds for transparency in particular by looking at the presidency of Joe Biden. Was there anything remotely transparent about that administration?

But that time has passed, thank goodness, and now we can focus on the outrage and annoyance that the Democrats have for the actions of Elon Musk and DOGE. It was so strange for them to attack Donald Trump when he claimed to be our most transparent president ever, as he did in 2019:

Before heading out on his trip to Japan, President Donald Trump spoke with the press Friday reasserting his claim that he is the ‘most transparent’ President. ‘I was the most transparent, and am, transparent President in history,’ Trump said, going on to cite how many interviews and documents special counsel Robert Mueller’s team went through. While it’s difficult to judge levels of transparency between US presidents, Trump has worked to hide personal information from the public and did not fully cooperate with the Mueller investigation.

Ah, so that’s the rub. A definition of transparency points to the confusion about what it actually is. Consider that transparency basically falls into two categories: (1) transparency of a personal nature, and the person being studied should have a choice about what is disclosed; and (2) transparency of a business or government operation, which should be determined by government rules and regulations.

Another way to look at transparency is a simple dictionary definition, such as the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

free from pretense or deceit, frank; easily detected or seen through, obvious; readily understood; characterized by visibility or accessibility of information, especially concerning business practices.

Trump and Musk have gone out of their way to share what DOGE is doing nearly every day. They are not required to provide the level of detail that the media is demanding, since all their investigations are in process and are mostly only weeks old!

The tragedy is that when studying the definition of transparency, no one believes that the government is a shining example of those attributes: very few of their operations are obvious or promoted in great complexity; the agencies have tried to avoid providing information to DOGE; and even worse, judges are joining in the obstructionism to make sure they are protecting the deceit and lies of agencies.

Executive Orders have transparency requirements built into them:

A recurring theme in both the executive orders and the CRF’s [Center for Regulatory Freedom] recommendations is the emphasis on transparency. President Trump’s directive requiring federal agencies to disclose the costs, benefits, and impacts of proposed regulations reflects the CRF's call for mandatory annual regulatory cost reporting. Such measures not only hold agencies accountable but also empower the public with the knowledge necessary to evaluate the fairness and efficiency of government action.

It’s apparent, in so many ways, that federal agencies are not interested in being held accountable to the people. While people in North Carolina were still struggling in their recovery from Hurricane Helene, DHS was misusing the funds intended for them:

‘We don’t need this bureaucracy that’s picking and choosing winners,’ [Kristi] Noem said. DHS recently fired four FEMA officials who it said had, apparently as part of an existing federal program funded by Congress, sent $59 million to New York City for temporary migrant housing in the city. Musk alleged on X the payments violated the law even though the program was funded by Congress.

Musk explained what was lacking in the feedback loop on his work:

‘If there's not a good feedback loop from the people to the government and if you have rule of the bureaucrat, or if the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?’ said Musk, who is an unelected official himself.

He also made a pointed remark about what is at stake for our country:

Musk also claimed DOGE's unprecedented effort to slash spending is not ‘draconian or radical’ and is needed for ‘America to remain solvent as a country.’ He claimed a cursory examination of Social Security showed people in the system were ‘150 years old’ or had ‘no identifying information.’

Based on any reasonable definition of transparency, Trump, Musk and DOGE are fully disclosing the steps they are taking. They have announced the agencies they are investigating, their major findings, and they have made certain not to access information that they are not allowed to see:

‘I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization,’ Musk said. But the posts that announce actions are far from detailed. There’s no public plan for DOGE and little in the way of details about Musk’s ultimate goals. The way the agency has been set up in the White House could help it skirt various government transparency laws, like the Freedom of Information Act. ‘I think the Trump administration has taken every step possible to shield DOGE and Mr. Musk’s operations from the public light,’ said Donald Sherman, chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, one of the many groups that is suing to slow down and shine a light on what Musk and Trump are doing.

If you study the comments in these quotations, you’ll see how outrageous the expectations are for DOGE and Musk. The writer of the article insists on “details” of what is transpiring: since when does any other department have to provide details about their operations? And Musk has stated his ultimate goals: eliminating waste and fraud and reducing the size of government. Is there anyone who doesn’t understand the meaning of this statement? Then Mr. Sherman insists that Trump is “shielding” Musk, because he hasn’t received a response to his 62 FOIA requests. I doubt that responding to his requests is a priority right now, as Musk and DOGE work at warp speed to meet their goals.

Meanwhile, before the Left and media attack the transparency of the Trump administration, maybe they should look into their own treachery.