The Ethics Hysterics Are Back

There will be a lot of opportunities for professional ethicists to get their dander up over the course of the second Trump administration. It would make sense for them to keep their powder dry in anticipation of those eventualities. Unfortunately, sense is a commodity in short supply.

The ethical industrial complex is mobilizing in opposition to Donald Trump’s decision to tap entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a commission on “government efficiency.” Like so many middling film franchises, the commission’s name — the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — seems to have been decided on before the outfit’s role was fully conceptualized.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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There will be a lot of opportunities for professional ethicists to get their dander up over the course of the second Trump administration. It would make sense for them to keep their powder dry in anticipation of those eventualities. Unfortunately, sense is a commodity in short supply.

The ethical industrial complex is mobilizing in opposition to Donald Trump’s decision to tap entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a commission on “government efficiency.” Like so many middling film franchises, the commission’s name — the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — seems to have been decided on before the outfit’s role was fully conceptualized.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.