Micah Beckwith and his Indiana DOGE bros are livin' large | Opinion

The small men governing Indiana need big cars — and they'll cut programs you depend on to afford them.

"This is 'Indiana DOGE!' Best statewide team in the country," Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith boasted in January, chartering an unofficial local chapter of Elon Musk's federal cost-cutting wrecking ball club.

Beckwith's since-deleted social media posts included a photo of Gov. Mike Braun, Treasurer Daniel Elliott, Secretary of State Diego Morales, Attorney General Todd Rokita, Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and Beckwith — front, center and most in focus.

Even though Indiana DOGE includes one woman, make no mistake: this is man's business. Nieshalla is apparently confined to the office while the DOGE bros hit the town in taxpayer-funded land yachts.

IndyStar on Wednesday reported Beckwith is driving a top-of-the-line 2025 Chevy Tahoe High Country SUV that cost the state about $88,000. When asked to explain the purchase, Beckwith said he and the boys can't possibly make do with anything less.

"We needed a car that was big enough for the guys on my team, because the previous lieutenant governor (Suzanne Crouch) had a smaller car, because she had a bunch of women that would travel with her, and we got some big guys that go with us," Beckwith told IndyStar. "And so I said, 'Hey, I've got to have something that's good for three or four guys.' And so when you start looking at those models, I mean, the price gets up there when you're talking about a new car."

Big cars for 'big guys'

Now, I don't know the heights and weights of Beckwith's big-guy roster, and I'm not sure whether Indiana's new public access counselor would consider that public record, but I do have insight into third-row vehicles as a father of young children.

I think Beckwith probably could have found a better deal.

I drive a spacious Volkswagen Atlas, for example, and it cost about half the price of Beckwith's top-trim Tahoe. My family also has a minivan, which, while admittedly not very masculine, is designed with maximum efficiency — DOGE! — to hold lots of teammates.

OK, sure, you can't expect Beckwith to drive a vehicle built for soccer moms. But this is America and there's a huge selection of large SUVs on the market, many of which cost less than $88,000 — even in 2025. That includes the highly rated Kia Telluride, which starts well under $40,000. If Beckwith really wanted to project DOGE vibes and also buy American, he could have thrown down for a Tesla Cybertruck, starting at $80,000.

In fairness, though, it must be hard for someone of Beckwith's stature to find a car that costs less than my childhood home, because Morales' ride cost even more.

Morales acquired a $90,000 GMC Yukon Denali designed to "immerse yourself in luxury," as IndyStar reported. Morales' vehicular excess hasn't gotten as much attention as Beckwith's because, at this point, everyone takes for granted that the secretary of state is irredeemably corrupt and Republicans aren't willing to hold him accountable.

News of Morales' sweet ride comes as people are trying to figure out why Indiana's top elections official just spent 10 days in India on a sketchy "economic development" mission unrelated to his job and won't say who paid for it. Nothing Morales does surprises anyone anymore, because he has an impossibly long list of dubious behavior, including (probably) voting illegally, lying about his resume, mischaracterizing his military record, hiring his brother-in-law to a six-figure state salary while also giving him and other employees generous bonuses.

Meanwhile, Braun is getting a state-funded helipad at his Jasper residence. A helipad! At his house!

It would be kind of funny if the DOGE bros weren't demanding everyone else do more with less.

DOGE for thee, but not for me

When news came out earlier this year that Braun's proposed property tax cuts would cost schools and local governments tens of millions of dollars each, the governor played a tough guy.

“Almost all of them are saying that they can't do without what they're having now. I would say, prove it,” Braun said of school districts during a Feb. 4 press briefing. “Prove it that you didn’t salt away a lot, that you didn’t overburden the taxpayer by maybe making investments in buildings that weren’t needed or other things that weren’t essential.”

"Prove it," Braun said. Prove you haven't been wasting money on "things that weren't essential," Braun said.

Like a helipad? Former Gov. Eric Holcomb didn't need that.

Like an $88,000 Chevy Tahoe High Country SUV? Crouch didn't need that.

Like a $90,000 GMC Yukon Denali? Former Secretary of State Holli Sullivan didn't need that.

Ah, but Indiana DOGE has masculine energy. The DOGE bros need big cars, heated steering wheels and quick access to helicopters. They don't care how many state budget cuts they need to make to eliminate unnecessary frills, as long as they get to keep theirs.

Contact James Briggs at 317-444-4732 or james.briggs@indystar.com. Follow him on X and Bluesky at @JamesEBriggs.