Voters feign shock at Elon Musk’s raid on the treasury, but they should not be surprised. Republicans have long wanted to dismantle aspects of what they call the administrative state. For instance, abolishing the Education Department was placed on their platform in 1980. Had it not been for President Dwight Eisenhower, they may have taken a swipe at Social Security in the 1950’s. Muskism is not alien to the GOP. It is an essential part of that party’s canon.

Of course, you have so-called moderates in the GOP. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and others are no less eager to gut the budget than Musk. Naturally, they will do it with the greatest regret and gnashing of teeth, but they will agree. Their moment has come and they mean to destroy what remains of the Great Society, and if they are lucky the New Deal. Always, they cite “waste, fraud and abuse,” all the while wanting to create more revenue for their baronial “donor base.” Why not? They never really liked the programs anyway; now seemingly they have the votes.

Naturally, the GOP who never had any qualms in using foggy language to advance these unpopular proposals, now can be bolder. Collins who has an “oh dear oh my” demeanor when eviscerating the safety net, knows what she is doing. Donald Trump started none of this, indeed George W. Bush tried to trim Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in 2005. Mitt Romney practically denounced 47% of Americans as parasites in 2012. Trump is, if anything, a recent convert to these draconian views.

This leads one to wonder whether Republican stalwarts are more guilty than the President. Certainly, Stephen K. Bannon thinks so and remains a defender of Social Security and Medicare. Moreover, he opposes Musk because he regards him as an interloper. The old GOP simply cannot handle Trump as they try to lead him down a bad path.

Indeed, Trump needs to follow Eisenhower, who remarked that “…any party’s attempt to abolish Social Security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history.”

He continued by singling out a few other Texas millionaires and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. He then branded them as “negligible” and “stupid.”

Eisenhower, in his letter to his brother Milton, also singled out H. L. Hunt, an eccentric Texan millionaire. Ole’ H.L. would have found Musk simpatico and a partner in his crusade to reduce America’s needy to penury.

Eisenhower, who was more independent, wanted to create “modern Republicanism” which was less antediluvian in its view. Perhaps Trump can create a GOP that is truly national in its view, including the “least of these.”

Trump should take a page from not only Eisenhower but also from Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt in forging a broader coalition. MAGA devoid of the rigid ideology of the GOP might create a party not wedded to the old ways of Washington. Democrats might also consider changes unfettered to the patterns of the past.