Latest / Systemic Error Podcast
'Peak incompetence': Trump wants $1B for screwworm after cutting $15M program
The Price of Pretending Cuts Are PolicyThe People Actually In ChargeThis story is not about an abstract bureaucracy failing. It is about power doing what power always does when it can dress itself up as thrift: cut the safeguards, break the system, then bill the public for the repair.The actors with actual authority were Elon Musk’s DOGE operation and the Trump administration. DOGE terminated a $15 million annual USDA effort to monitor screwworm spread and cut related global animal-disease funding in March 2025. Then, when the infestation moved toward Texas and New Mexico, the administration…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.