Op-Ed: Rep. Marc Molinaro and David Catalfamo: What DOGE's Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can learn from Harry S. Truman

DOGE’s broader mandate to overhaul federal regulations and modernize the workforce represents an ambitious leap — and with it, greater risks and rewards.

When Harry Truman famously declared, “the buck stops here,” he couldn’t have envisioned a future where those bucks would be tracked in real time via social media. Yet, 80 years later, the principles of accountability and oversight have taken on a technological twist. With President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the fusion of modern technology with government accountability could herald a transformative new era.

This ambitious initiative should draw inspiration from one of the most impactful oversight initiatives in American history: the Truman Committee of 1941.

Then-Senator Harry Truman’s genius lay in his ability to engage the public directly. Through letter-writing campaigns, he empowered everyday Americans to report waste and inefficiency, leveraging their firsthand observations as an invaluable resource. His committee — taking on entrenched bureaucracies — turned a modest $15,000 budget into $10-15 billion in savings (in 1940s dollars) by exposing fraud, rooting out corruption, and improving conditions for wartime manufacturing.

This proactive approach not only conserved resources but saved countless lives by addressing issues like defective military equipment and unsafe working conditions. Truman’s bipartisan, methodical, and focused strategy cemented his committee as a model of effective oversight.

Fast forward to today, the DOGE initiative seeks to channel Truman’s spirit and President Trump’s vision with the tools of the digital age. By integrating traditional investigative methods with Elon Musk’s X platform, DOGE aims to identify and combat government inefficiency with unprecedented speed and scale.

X acts as a digital public square, where citizens can share concerns, highlight inefficiencies, and suggest improvements in real time. Just as Truman relied on letters, DOGE taps into this vast network to crowdsource oversight from millions of Americans.

Musk’s stewardship of X brings unique advantages to the initiative. The platform’s vast reach allows DOGE to bypass traditional media and communicate directly with the public. Investigative findings can be broadcast instantly, galvanizing support, countering bureaucratic inertia, and sustaining reform efforts.

Musk’s ability to mobilize public opinion was recently demonstrated when he rallied opposition to the year-end stopgap funding measure aimed at avoiding a government shutdown, showcasing the potential of X as a tool for civic engagement.

While some have raised concerns about the concentration of power in a privately-owned platform, proponents argue that Musk’s leadership brings unparalleled technological expertise and a track record of innovation to the table. For DOGE to fully succeed, it will need to strike a balance between leveraging these tools and ensuring credibility, transparency, and public trust.

Achieving concrete results, however, will require more than just innovation. Truman’s success was rooted in bipartisan cooperation, a clear focus on provable cases of waste, and the patience to methodically pursue reforms. DOGE’s broader mandate to overhaul federal regulations and modernize the workforce represents an ambitious leap — and with it, greater risks and rewards.

If Musk, Ramaswamy, and the DOGE initiative can deliver results comparable to the Truman Committee, they could not only reshape government accountability but also leave President Trump with a legacy of lasting change, efficiency, and savings.

By blending cutting-edge technology with the principles of good governance, they aim to modernize oversight in ways that could endure for decades. As Truman demonstrated, effective oversight demands persistence, public engagement, and the courage to confront entrenched systems. Eight decades after the Truman Committee’s successes, DOGE holds the potential to meet those same standards in a world reshaped by technology. The next two years will reveal if this modern initiative can deliver lasting reform.

We suspect President Truman’s commitment to common sense reforms will be matched by this decade’s innovation, innovators, and the persistence of President Trump. And now, just as then, seemingly immovable bureaucracies will be challenged by the raw power of democracy.

Rep. Marc Molinaro represented New York’s 19th District in Congress. David Catalfamo is the president of Capitol Public Strategies Media.