To the editor:

President Trump touts his “astronomical achievements,” but can anyone calculate the waste being committed by the mindless actions of his (and Elon Musk’s) administration, including its Department of (so-called) “Government Efficiency”? Is the waste even calculable?

It has to include the loss of crucial expertise of those laid-off from government jobs on spurious charges, and the needed labor of undocumented workers peremptorily deported (instead of being offered work permits); the health-threatening stress and chaos thus imposed on workers’ families; the damage to the economy from the loss of their incomes to local entities; the time and repairs needed to fill the gaps of essential services reduced. Can the monetary value of this waste be calculated?

Cutting Federal funds for crucial research in health and science; abandoning government-backed incentives for sustainable energies and food production; cruelly halting vital foreign aid; imposing tariffs on friendly nations; withdrawing our country from international cooperation toward a sustainably livable climate — these senseless decisions lead to the waste of potential for a healthy, positive future, not to mention our national standing in the world. Trump’s untimely refusal to respond intelligently to the scientific truth of global climate disruption (driven by our burning fossil fuels: His “answer”? “Frac, frac, frac, and drill, baby, drill!”), alone, will predictably prolong the increase in the waste of homes, businesses, property, food and water security, national and international security, health and lives, with costs in the — what, multitrillions? — of dollars.

Can any statistician find “efficiency” in such mindless behavior?

Nancy Hanson,

Lawrence