Nov 12, 2026 · 58 min
DOGE’s young engineers tested the limits of government power
Michael Lewis on How DOGE Broke the Government
The conversation examines how inexperienced officials, politicized institutions, and weakened civil-service protections can damage public trust and human lives.
- 1DOGE treated complex government systems like a startup, giving inexperienced engineers authority over decisions with serious consequences.
- 2Career civil servants resisted efforts to politicize government, protect sensitive data, and dismantle programs serving vulnerable people.
- 3Lewis connects institutional damage to a broader collapse of trust in America, while warning that prediction markets can intensify predatory gambling.
Don't miss
Lewis recounts how an IRS privacy official resisted handing undocumented workers’ tax data to immigration authorities.
The brief
Michael Lewis returns to government reporting in Blockers, framing DOGE as a presidential power grab and following capable civil servants pushed aside by politicization.
Lewis portrays DOGE’s young engineers as inexperienced, narrow, and overconfident, treating federal agencies like startups while making arbitrary decisions with consequences far beyond their expertise.
The sharpest conflict comes through officials who resisted: an IRS privacy officer opposed sharing undocumented workers’ tax data with immigration authorities, while programs such as USAID were dismantled.
Lewis and Scott Galloway broaden the argument to trust, describing how DOGE and Elon Musk damaged America’s global reputation and confidence in its institutions.
The conversation then turns to Kalshi, sports betting, and AI-driven targeting of vulnerable gamblers before ending with the uncertainty of sending a child to college.
Books & mentions
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