I think that it is time to rename the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) to DOGC (Depart of Government Cruelty).

The depth and scope of massive layoffs across the board in the name of finding “waste, fraud and abuse”) is appalling. The callous indifference to human suffering is staggering. To name but a few instances:

• Countless people in war-torn and climate-ravaged countries who will die because they will no longer receive life-giving treatments or food;

• The farmers who will go into bankruptcy because the government is reneging on supporting the investments they made in clean energy and sustainability;

• The laid-off park ranger who just lost her health insurance and half the family income;

• The worker laid off from Togus for “poor performance” even though he had the highest performance reviews, not to mention the veterans who will not receive appropriate services.

These are real people in the U.S. and abroad whose lives have been upended, perhaps ruined, and in some cases, lost while Elon Musk gleefully boasts about the actions (he said he could have gone to parties, but instead destroyed USAID), and Donald Trump urges him to be more aggressive.

At what point will Republican lawmakers decide to stand up against state-sponsored cruelty? At what point will the American public demand that it stop?

Susan Trask, Auburn