Blockers

'For all its sound and fury, Doge achieved no meaningful cuts. Taking its false economies into account, Doge might even have added to the US deficit. Yet as Michael Lewis sets out in his commendable new book, Blockers, the effects of Doge’s 18-week storm will be felt for years to come... Those who want to know about how this is being done and what is at stake should read Lewis’s exemplary volume' – Financial Times

A wild ride through the destruction of the American government – and the unsung heroes who tried to stop it – by the No. 1 bestselling author of The Big Short

In early 2025, an army of young men invaded the offices of US government. Armed with laptops and sleeping bags, a raft of prejudices and a bulletproof sense of mission instilled in them by their new boss, Elon Musk, the tech bro acolytes of DOGE were on a mission to seek and destroy, by any means necessary. But once inside, they came up against a group of people whose courage, commitment and in some cases lifelong devotion to the nation they served would quickly earn them the wrath of Musk. He called them Blockers. Find the Blockers, Musk told his band of worshipful young men – and eliminate them.

Blockers is the story of the unsung heroes at the heart of the most complex and powerful machine ever designed by humankind, who fought back when DOGE, and then even darker forces, wanted to smash it all up. One kept Americans’ most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighbourhoods, another delivered the cure to cystic fibrosis. There was also a security guard.

This is a thriller about unlikely rebels and power-drunk villains. It is also a cautionary tale that asks, what do we do when the idea of public service becomes worthless? When the things we didn’t even realise we were taking for granted suddenly no longer exist. When we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.