Readers respond to Question of the Week:

Will D.C. be the same without Elon Musk?

Of course it will

That’s not a knock on Musk’s intelligence or influence. He’s one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of our time. But the notion that one man, even surrounded by a few dozen brilliant minds, could single-handedly reform Washington’s systemic dysfunction is wishful thinking.

Musk’s DOGE claims to have saved taxpayers $160 billion. That’s nice, but in a federal system that’s bloated with over 400 agencies, it’s a drop in the bucket.

Against this backdrop, are we really supposed to believe that Musk or anyone else could march into Washington and clean house? Of course not. So yes, Washington will be just fine without Elon Musk.

— David Ward, Anaheim

Musk will be fine without D.C.

Who was that guy riding in on the white horse who rescued our astronauts? All we got from D.C. was a press release “NASA’s working on it.” D.C. provides representatives and department heads whose obligation is the responsible disbursement of our citizens taxes. The DOGE marshal and his posse (free of charge by the way) arrive to address and resolve the misallocation by incompetent, if not criminally minded public servants. Was it the Department of Transportation that introduced EVs to reduce auto emission that were polluting our atmosphere? Oh that’s right, it was Mrs. Musk’s little boy Elon. Reusable rockets, traffic tunnels, upsizing dams probably weren’t D.C.’s ideas either. My guess is Musk will be just fine without D.C.

— John R. Waters, Lake Forest

No, it won’t be the same

Answering this Elon Musk query is like answering the question, Will California’s forests be the same after enduring the wildfires? No to both queries since Musk’s indiscriminate monetary cuts left necessary federal agencies and fired employees devastated.

I do believe as a former teacher the extreme cuts to departments such as the Education Department will have a negative and harmful effect by hindering resources that supply necessary support for effective learning! Finally, these federal agencies reflect a necessary balance of power, nonexistent in a totalitarian government!

— Isadora Johnson, Seal Beach