Elon Musk should be applauded for requiring the mammoth federal bureaucracy, which cost a staggering $6.9 trillion in the last fiscal year alone, to justify its existence. Complacency has infected the federal government for decades. Pilot programs become permanent without rhyme or reason. Bureaucratic cobwebs are abundant. Congressional oversight has atrophied as the bureaucracy has expanded. It is common knowledge that every department or agency mindlessly expends every appropriated dollar whether needed or not to avoid a budget cut. To accomplish more with less is a government catastrophe. No private business could survive with such an obtuse ethos.

For the first time in decades, programs have been made to justify themselves by “Musketeers” as Elon Musk’s band of young nerds is known. Zero-based budgeting is back in vogue. What is wrong with asking whether the United States Agency for International Development is accomplishing its goals? Or whether the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal Emergency Management Agency or U.S. Department of Energy have outlived their usefulness? Or whether bloated health care programs could be slashed without diminishing public health? Experience teaches that necessity is the mother of invention.

When it comes to the process, however, Musk leaves much to be desired. The world’s richest man and his unschooled Department of Government Efficiency Musketeers have descended like bulls in a China shop. Personal privacy has been invaded. Short cuts around the law have generated scores of lawsuits that have brought budget cutting and layoffs to a halt.

Government is not like Musk’s private businesses where he is the decider period. Separation of powers is the watchword of the Constitution, which requires consensus for change. That should not be difficult since Republicans control both Congress and the White House. These flashing red lights are so obvious that it’s fair to wonder whether Musk’s purpose is to legitimately reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy or simply to put on a show and then be conveniently thwarted. Such theater could very well please some without taking all the risks that go along with truly remaking something as complex as the federal government.

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 provides for rescission or deferral of unnecessary or wasteful spending with the approval of Congress. Change to be enduring must be courted not taken by storm. Everything done by executive order can and probably will be undone by a successor, leaving fleeting victories at best — assuming that those actions are judged to be legal by the courts in the first place.

Again, it’s fair to seek change, to cut waste, strike down potential abuse, uncover and remove fraud from the public sector whenever such opportunities arise whether by a president, his designee, members of Congress or their designees, federal inspectors general and on. It’s a year-round job. But it’s not acceptable to violate the law, to compromise national security (or share sensitive data on average Americans either) and to use fear and intimidation tactics against federal employees that will only hurt your cause.

We hope Musk is paying attention. The Tesla CEO is said to be quite smart. It’s one thing to be monkey around with foreign aid, it’s quite another to dig into the big government cost centers like Social Security and Medicare that benefit so many tens of millions of average Americans. Small wonder that Maryland U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks were among those Democrats drawing a Maginot Line outside Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn last Monday.

President Donald Trump has promised not to touch Social Security benefits. But Musk has complained of “massive fraud” in entitlement programs — including Social Security. Is the DOGE army about to cross the line and invade? Best to stay tuned.