The pair traveled to California after reportedly trying to pressure a top government official to open the water pump

Summary

DOGE staffers Tyler Hassen and Bryton Shang tried pressuring the Bureau of Reclamation to open a California water pump to aid Los Angeles during January’s wildfires, though the system couldn’t reach the city.

When denied, they flew there to do it themselves but failed due to maintenance and access restrictions.

Critics called DOGE a “slapstick operation of 20-somethings they’re seeing as whiz kids but have zero knowledge.”

Trump later ordered dam releases, flooding farmland. Critics called DOGE’s actions reckless and uninformed.

  • prole
    6·
    15 hours ago

    This is why “Hanlon’s Razor” is kind of bullshit. People should stop using it because, at the very least, it does not apply anymore.

    • gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com
      6·
      15 hours ago

      I’m pretty sure Hanlon specifically mentions that it must be “adequately” explained, and these events are not adequately explained by stupidity alone.

      • Rusty Shackleford@programming.devEnglish
        1·
        11 hours ago

        My admittedly tepid understanding of both Hanlon’s and Occam’s Razor and how it relates to DOGE fuckery tells me that in this and many other cases, Hanlon’s Razor doesn’t fit as well as Occam’s Razor because the more straightforward reason is that malice is a simpler explanation for their behavior than stupidity, which is somewhat counterintuitive regarding their actions.

      • prole
        2·
        13 hours ago

        Then I guess my frustrations are more with the people who misuse it.

    • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io
      3·
      15 hours ago

      It’s a general rule, not an absolute law, generally I think it should be the default assumption but past a certain point, it has to be intentional.