During the early days of Republican rule, a term was used to describe the strategy for governance. It was known as “flooding the zone”, surprising Democrats with so many initiatives that it either unhinged the opposition or sapped their morale. At first, it was spearheaded by a gaggle of executive orders, followed by cabinet-level appointment votes.

This part of his playbook seemed to work with Donald Trump sweeping the board with his appointments including controversial picks such as Kash Patel and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. But, on other matters – from the budget to whatever mischief Elon Mush came up with – the techniques have not worked well. Courts correctly pushed back on DOGE, because it is not an actual agency but a “concept” of dubious constitutionality.

In some respects, it resembles Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first one hundred days. FDR did everything from declaring a bank holiday to prevent people from taking money from financial institutions to arbitrarily cutting salaries and pensions. This morphed into the National Recovery Act which also made it up as it went along. Perhaps this is why the Supreme Court struck it down in June 1935.

Trump, like Roosevelt, loves political theatre, often claiming to be producing more than he actually has. All the world is a stage, particularly the Oval Office. Wonderful “television” but dire-end uncertain results.

Mr. Musk seems to be Trump’s one-man “brain trust” which parallels Roosevelt’s more forceful advisers such as Raymond Moley, Rex Tugwell, and Hugh Johnson. At first, they resembled Musk’s policies with an emphasis on “efficiency” and market-oriented reforms. Like Musk, they sowed confusion in agriculture markets ranging from slaughtering pigs to trying to create shortages to increase demand. Meanwhile, the NIRA, or the National Recovery Act’s industrial arm tried to restrict competition –sound familiar? Tariff reduction was not a high priority nor was enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act on the agenda.

By 1934 it was clear that the economy was recovering from historic lows, but the pattern was anything but steady. And Trump has a disadvantage in that the economy he inherited was way better than what Herbert Hoover bequeathed to FDR. In aggregate, Roosevelt had an economy that could only go up. Trump is in a worse condition because unemployment is low and any increase will be accredited to his administration.

He seems to understand Musk is becoming a liability. Like those “brain trusters” that FDR first picked, he appears to be too clever by half. FDR dumped many of those advisors for steadier hands. Trump would be well-advised to do the same.

Perhaps Trump will reflect on Sam Rayburn’s comment to Vice President Lyndon Johnson concerning President John F. Kennedy’s so-called “the best and the brightest.” After hearing how wonderful men like Defense Secretary Robert McNamara were, Rayburn schooled his former protege, “Well, Lyndon,” he stated, “they may be just as intelligent as you say, but I’d feel a whole lot better if one of them had ever run for sheriff.” Good advice.