CenterlineRight: Sharpening the DOGE Scissors

Over my lifetime, there have been numerous attempts by various folks to make government “more efficient”. The closest to success that any of them came was probably the mid 1990’s effort by President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich that actually resulted (briefly) in a balanced federal budget. Although there were some structural changes made in the federal bureaucracy as a result of that effort, most of the positive effects of it were realized by focusing attention on federal spending as opposed to federal structure. It was all about the “Benjamins”.

If the upcoming DOGE effort concerned with making our government work more efficiently and more effectively is going to be successful, then certain things are going to have to happen. Otherwise, the effort will be filed with the dusty reams of past and similar pursuits. First and foremost, the plan must be two-fold. The first step is to curtail federal spending. The second step is to fundamentally change the structure or hierarchy of the federal government.

Let’s look at spending. There are twelve separate appropriation authorities that should be passed annually by the Congress and the President https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/open-government/statement-of-disbursements/glossary-of-terms#:~:text=Congress%20passes%2012%20annual%20appropriation,U.S.%20Treasury%20for%20specific%20purposes. This funding is the absolute lifeblood of federal departments and agencies. Without it, offices will not be maintained and staff will not be paid. Quite simply, if you want to stop a federal agency or program from functioning, cutting off its funding is pretty damn effective. It won’t kill it permanently, but it will paralyze it.

Let’s consider government structure. At the end of 2023, the federal government (state and local employees NOT included) employed about 3 million people; representing approximately 1.7 percent of the total U.S. workforce. It is estimated that a President will hire/appoint approximately 3,000 employees; these are termed patronage appointments. They serve at the pleasure of the President. These folks will in turn hire or delegate the hiring of thousands more federal employees.

The ability of a President to influence the persona of our government in this fashion is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it is perfectly reasonable for a President to hire those people that he or she respects, considers of a like mind, and most importantly…are competent to perform the jobs they are hired to execute. This is why we have elections and the spoils go to the victor.

The downside to this process is the harsh reality that many times, the loyalty and ideology of the person selected outweighs their competence and they are placed in positions of power and authority where they are simply incapable of performing in a satisfactory fashion. They are in way over their heads. It is essential to point out that these patronage appointments typically occur at the higher levels of federal departments and agencies and their influence is therefore quite significant as compared to a “rank and file” federal employee. Depending on how aggressive these patronage appointees choose to be, they can have an immediate impact (positive or negative) on the performance of the departments and agencies they run. There are fifteen federal executive departments run by these folks with literally hundreds of federal agencies serving below them on the organizational chart.

It is the laws of our nation that dictate our lives. It is the framework within which our government functions. Those laws are created by Congress and the President, and then flow to the federal departments and agencies that will administer them to the citizenry https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process . But when it comes to living with the law, the devil is truly in the details. Once the House and Senate agree on a bill and pass it, and the President subsequently signs it, it is the law of the land. The literal text of legislation is the language contained in the actual bill approved by Congress and signed by the President. But the administration of that bill…the real life effect it will have on those citizens impacted by its content…is largely dictated by the instructions contained in the Federal Register. Those instructions are quite simply a step-by-step guide for federal departments and agencies used to implement that law. Needless to say, the precise (or oftentimes, imprecise) language contained in the actual legislation is not always accurately reflected in the Federal Register instructions. The Federal Register product is the interpretation and translation of that legislation https://www.federalregister.gov/uploads/2011/01/Office_of_the_Federal_Register_brochure_web.pdf .

The fact is that Congress does not always do a thorough and precise job of writing legislation that fills in the all the blanks, dots all the I’s, and crosses all the T’s. In fairness, that is just not always feasible…but they could certainly do a far better job of it. They have an idea of what they want the bill to do, but they simply do not always spell out the full detail of how they want that idea to become reality. The how part of that equation is what the Federal Register publishes and places in the hands of the department and agency leadership of our government…who just happen to be the aforementioned patronage appointees. We would all like to assume that the original intent of the Congress and the President is upheld when those laws actually make contact with the citizenry; but that assumption would be incorrect. The actual administration of those laws will run through filters of legitimate disagreements over interpretation, complex dynamics of translation, partisan and ideological influences of high-ranking officials, and the simple inability to comprehend exactly what the intent was to begin with. In other words…the rules we end up living by do not always reflect the intent of the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President.

This system creates a generous opportunity for individuals in positions of power and authority to intentionally subvert and distort the law. The remedies for these improper actions are to terminate their employment due to malfeasance or to overturn their decisions through the Judicial Branch of our government. Because they are patronage appointees and their actions are, by and large, dictated by the President who hired them…they don’t often get fired. Additionally, reality dictates that attempting to address these abuses of power through the Judicial Branch is a slow and methodical process and that by the time the improper actions are overturned, the real damage has already been done.

These facts simply highlight the essential importance of not only electing high quality and competent people to serve in office, but also that of elected officials hiring high quality and competent individuals when they make patronage appointments and hires. It does not always work out that way and that is why “we get the government we deserve”.

If the DOGE is going to fundamentally change our government, they can nibble around the edges with funding, but the big and significant bites will require actual votes in Congress that change the laws under which our government operates. The Constitution provides the framework for the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches of our government and how they interact. It is within that existing framework, the creation/elimination/functioning of federal departments and agencies, where the key to improving government efficiency and effectiveness lies. As long as America adheres to its Constitution, the true test of government performance will not so much be the system as it will be the people within the system.

Congress and the President must decide which functions in our lives need to be impacted by the federal bureaucracy. There can be little doubt that our government is too big and has its fingers in parts of our lives where it has no business being. This can be remedied by the elimination of federal departments and agencies. Alas, that is far easier said than done. Before any new federal departments or agencies are created, there should be a serious consideration of whether or not we actually need them. Even more importantly, we should ask the question: Is there currently a federal department or agency that is responsible for addressing that need? The lack of this seemingly fundamental step has resulted in an exorbitant amount of redundancy and duplication of processes and authorities throughout our government. We now have a situation where multiple departments and agencies are responsible for the same areas, do not communicate or coordinate with each other, and oftentimes do not even realize they are plowing the same ground. This is the true essence of government waste.

The other aspect of improving government effectiveness and efficiency lies in the areas of exactly how they function. As should be obvious to us all…when you consider the entire process of creating laws through to the implementation of those laws…there is a wealth of opportunity for abuse, waste, and dysfunction. The civil service system which rules the careers of most rank and file federal employees needs to be carefully examined and reformed. There need to be fewer patronage appointments and those jobs need to be replaced by high quality and competent career employees. This change alone would dramatically increase the benefits of policy and administrative continuity and, at the same time, lessen the poisonous impact of partisan and incompetent patronage appointees.

There is one final and additional point I would like to make in regards to federal department and agency function. U.S. Presidents, Senators, and Representatives come and go. Some stay in office longer than others, but they all have a fleeting influence in the long run. On the other hand, rank and file government employees typically have careers in the range of 25 to 30 plus years. They see elected officials come and go and they experience the morphing and evolution of their departments and agencies over time. One would think that if you were considering a thoughtful assessment of how efficient and effective our government performs, you would select from amongst this rank and file group of employees some qualified and capable individuals to offer input on government reform.

Unfortunately, this is not how it works. Any decision for serious government reform will most likely come from Presidents, Senators, Representatives, and patronage appointees who simply do not have a full and firm grasp of how the “legislative law” rubber meets the road. They may have some great concepts and ideas, but they have no practical experience in transforming those concepts and ideas into reality...as least not in the governmental context.

An abundance of experience, knowledge, and ability is lying at their fingertips in the form of the federal workforce; but those folks will have little if any input on any reforms that may come forth. That reform will be driven and authored by elected officials with noble notions of a new and improved government and from outside interests such as Vivek and Elon who are remarkable talents, but have no concept of precisely what is required for the actual administration of a government program.

I heartily endorse the notion of government reform and sincerely hope that the DOGE may provide the impetus for that process to begin in earnest. However, when it comes to the possibility of involving the true experts on government program administration…the rank and file employees…in the process, I am not hopeful. These people are there, they are represented by employee organizations, and they would heartily welcome the opportunity to materially participate in this reform process. Failure to consult with these folks will hamper any actual and significant improvement and will diminish the potential of any reformation. Now let’s move on to a few links about some other issues of the day.

One thing is for certain: Our national education system needs some serious reform.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/higher-education-reforms-we-hope-to-see-next-year/

https://victorhanson.com/elementor-27858/

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/whats-the-purpose-of-higher-education/

https://americanmind.org/salvo/american-education-is-political-education/

Is California just another state…or is it actually another planet?

https://www.commentary.org/articles/rick-marin/taylor-sheridan-anti-woke-director/

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/01/03/california-rings-in-the-new-year-with-new-push-to-block-voter-identification/

The world is on fire and the Biden Administration is slinging gasoline on the way out…

https://reason.com/2025/01/03/is-biden-teeing-up-an-iran-war-for-trump/

https://www.thefp.com/p/what-will-trump-do-about-iran-israel-hamas-hezbollah

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14239889/NIALL-FERGUSON-historian-World-War-Three-climate-change-nuclear.html