Elon Musk and his DOGE squad continue their crusade against government bodies, slashing departments and firing federal employees. This, apparently, is done in the name of stripping things back, maximising efficiency and getting rid of the dark forces that obstruct government productivity.

But where did the idea of federal employees as a powerful force come from? And does it exist elsewhere in the world? Rohan Venkat, Emily Tamkin and Tom Hamilton discuss how countries view their own civil servants and federal employees.

Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:

• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney
• https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/january/everyone-has-their-reasons
• https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-doge-firing-federal-employees-ivy-league-jobs.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/health/food-safety-trump-fda-cutbacks-deadly-outbreaks.html (if only they’d published this before we recorded!)

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

For sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.com

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

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