Michael Lewis: DOGE’s Young Men Led With Cruelty and Contempt

Michael Lewis argues that his new book, Blockers, is less about day-to-day politics than about a power grab: the Trump administration and DOGE tried to seize institutions, the congressional power of the purse, and the nonpartisan civil service. He says the civil servants he followed were unusually talented, deeply mission-driven people who were pushed out because they would not do illegal or partisan things.

Lewis describes DOGE’s young engineers as a tight, mostly white, mostly male cohort that led with “cruelty and contempt rather than curiosity.” He says they treated government like a startup, were loyal to Elon Musk, and often made reckless cuts without understanding the systems they were breaking. He highlights the IRS privacy fight over immigrants’ tax data and says DOGE’s actions caused real harm, including consequences for people in the U.S. and abroad.

The discussion also turns to prediction markets and sports betting, where Lewis says the industry is increasingly good at targeting vulnerable users and should be seen as shameful even if not banned. He closes on the personal note that his son has left for college, and says watching him flourish has made the transition easier.