As seen online:
“CHAKRABARTI: And so we're going to spend the rest of the hour, Tom, talking about the consequences of this draining of expertise. But what do you think the consequence is first and foremost on the American people?
NICHOLS: The draining of expertise from the national government means people are going to die, whether they are in combat and being sent to try to spackle over the problems that Donald Trump left by waving away the consequences of a war of choice whether it's people who refuse to take vaccines because Robert F. Kennedy, I can't believe, in the same way that I have trouble saying Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. I almost can't get my head around Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The draining of expertise from the national government means people are going to die. But people are going to lose jobs. People are going to suffer economically. I think it's easy to dismiss expertise in the government because most of the time the effect of expertise on your life as an American citizen is more or less invisible. Things just work. Things just go, the lights go on, airplanes fly, oil gets delivered and so on. But I think what we're seeing now is the collapse of government, of expertise in the government is much Hemingway once said about going bankrupt. How do you go bankrupt? Gradually, and then all at once. ”
— from Are we witnessing the death of expertise? | On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti as of 24 March 2026