Trump is leaving the entire Obama team speechless and it’s because he can think outside of the box.
In a recent episode of the popular liberal podcast Pod Save America, former aides to President Barack Obama made an unexpected admission: they regretted not implementing some of the very policies President Donald Trump is now advancing through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The episode revolved around Trump’s efforts to streamline federal operations and reduce government waste, a goal that left the “Obama Bros” lamenting their past efforts.
Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for Obama, shared his frustration, admitting he hadn’t realized how efficient government could be when effectively managed. “To be honest, some of it is quite annoying because it is some of the things we should have done ourselves. We did not know anyone could do some of these things,” Lovett confessed, signaling a rare acknowledgment of missed opportunities during the Obama administration.
Jon Favreau, another former Obama speechwriter, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the challenges the Obama administration faced in trying to make the federal government more efficient. He pointed out the well-known obstacles of government bureaucracy and inefficiency, expressing how difficult it was to reorganize the massive federal system. “We know government is slow-moving. We know the government can be ineffective. We all understand that bureaucracy can be overblown,” Favreau remarked. “We attempted to reorganize the system. We attempted to find efficiency. It’s difficult to accomplish.”
The Obama team also criticized the state of federal technology during their tenure, with Favreau recalling how poor service was, even within the White House itself. “The technology in the federal government, at least when we were there, sucked,” he said, lamenting the lack of basic communication infrastructure.
This conversation comes on the heels of Trump’s executive order directing agencies to work with DOGE to further reduce the federal government’s size and cut unnecessary spending. This order continues a series of moves from the Trump administration aimed at cutting bloated government programs, from DEI initiatives to the exorbitant costs of housing illegal migrants in hotels.
While the “Obama Bros” continue to discuss how Democrats should engage politically during Trump’s second term, this moment of self-reflection suggests that even the most vocal critics of Trump’s efficiency measures might recognize the value of reducing government waste—something Republicans have long championed.