When the chainsaw comes for the SEC

Measure twice, cut once.

If you’re familiar with woodworking, you’ve heard that, well, more than once.

And if you’ve ever made the mistake of failing to abide by it, you’ve learned the lesson that some errors can be hard to reverse. That may not be obvious to the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, who recently stole the stage at CPAC by wielding a novelty chainsaw – and, in case it was lost on anyone, yelling the word “CHAINSAW!”

In normal times, such a metaphorical show would be an obvious gaffe, especially after his pet project, DOGE, has made numerous glaring mistakes in its quest to reduce the size of the federal government. Career civil servants have reportedly been fired and then told that was an error, but then in some cases fired again later. And DOGE has also overestimated the money it claimed to be saving taxpayers through various cuts – in at least one case by three orders of magnitude.

Setting aside the argument that a scalpel may be a more appropriate implement in the pursuit of government efficiency, one wonders if the DOGE team is measuring at all.

And the legal fight over the president’s ability to withhold funds approved by Congress or eliminate agencies established by it has yet to play out.

So far, the mass firings and buyouts have hobbled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the IRS is set to lay off more than 6,000 people in the middle of tax season. Other non-financial services departments have also been affected.

And, of course, there is the Securities and Exchange Commission, which as of press time had not had a full DOGE review but is already facing some job cuts, including directors at its 10 regional offices.

The risk, when all is said and done, is that the SEC will lose many highly skilled workers. While that has the potential to affect investor protections in the short term, it could prove to be a long-term problem as well, as refilling those jobs in the future will not be quick and easy – institutional knowledge will be lost.

It will also mean that sound guidance from financial advisors and brokers – whether fiduciary or best interest – may be increasingly important.

It is one thing to contend that government could be more efficient. It is another to allege widespread fraud and abuse. And in the latter case, widespread cuts at an agency like the SEC will hardly serve to protect consumers.