Americans have flourished under the freedoms and rules of community life provided by a government with limited enumerated powers that are divided between legislative, executive, and judicial branches to provide checks and balances against abuse of power and a civic culture of mutual respect. As a result, America itself has flourished. In 1900 median American income, valued in 2024 dollars was approximately $18,000 and 40% of the population lived in poverty. In 2024 median American income was $80,020 and 11.1% lived in poverty.
The share of government spending (Federal, state and local) in the US was approximately 5.5% in 1900 and 37.5% in 2024. Following WWII GDP growth rate declined as government spending rose as a share of GDP. During the 34 years from 1950 – 1984 GDP growth averaged 3.5% per annum while over the next 34 years from 1984-2019 average annual growth rate fell to 2.5%. But the lower growth rate also reflects the burden of increased regulation.
The incoming Trump administration is claiming, with good justification, that the slowing of economic growth reflects excessive government spending and regulation. It has assigned Elan Musk and his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce Federal government spending and counterproductive regulations.
Some government programs violate or at least stretch its powers as enumerated in the Constitution. Some regulations fail to pass the cost/benefit test and thus reduce incomes. To identify waste and fraud, DOGE employees have been given access to confidential employee and or beneficiary data bases. “Late Friday, a federal judge in Washington declined to block DOGE access to Labor Department data but expressed concern about young DOGE staffers who ‘never had any training with respect to the handling of confidential information’ accessing ‘the medical and financial records of millions of Americans.’ And on Saturday, a federal judge in New York temporarily blocked DOGE staff from accessing sensitive payment systems at the Treasury Department, citing the risk of ‘irreparable harm.’
“After the New York ruling, Musk defended DOGE methods, tweeting that his team had sought to add routine information to outgoing Treasury payments to help spot fraud — “super obvious and necessary changes” that “are being implemented by existing longtime career government employees, not anyone from @DOGE.” “Washington Post – DOGE and Musk goals”
I support modernizing administrative systems to improve government employee’s productivity (i.e. reduce the number of employees needed for a task) and I support eliminating functions that exceed government’s enumerated powers or do not serve a clear need that can only be met by government, and I support eliminating regulations that fail cost/benefit criteria. Examining these functions and systems and associated databases are surely part of such a careful determination. But what if Musk and Trump have other objectives such as driving out or punishing their enemies?
“The Trump administration is giving hints it may ignore a federal judge’s ruling restricting Elon Musk and his associates in DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, from accessing the Treasury Department’s critical payment systems. In his decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer warned about the ‘disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.’ Vice President JD Vance responded to the ruling by writing on social media that ‘judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.’ Elon Musk also called for the judge to be impeached.” “Democracy Now – constitutional crisis Trump admin hints it will ignore judge’s ruling to block Musk from Treasury records”
Trump has been issuing executive orders that ignore Congress’s authority (such as the adoption of tariffs, and impounding congressionally authorized expenditure). A federal judge in Rhode Island, John J. McConnell Jr., has ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore federal funds that were frozen under a controversial directive. This followed evidence that the administration failed to comply with a prior temporary restraining order (TRO) issued in January, which prohibited freezing federal grants and assistance programs. The funding freeze, initiated by a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), affected programs tied to the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law, as well as initiatives like Head Start and health research grants.
While the legality of Trump’s executive actions in these areas is doubtful, its wisdom is totally lacking. Collective (i.e. government) action requires broad consensus which is obtained by public discussion in which all views are aired. Cutting off programs and expenditure in the middle of existing contracts bound to be harmful to those involved and to generate public outrage quite unnecessarily. It’s probably illegal as well as just bad policy.
Each administration has the right to put managers in place who support its programs. But the pure execution of administrative functions is not, or should not be, a partisan matter. In the earlier years of our republic working for the government was often a way of rewording family or party members. The resulting quality of the services performed was often poor.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883, marked a turning point in U.S. federal employment practices. It was enacted to dismantle the corrupt “spoils system,” which awarded government jobs based on political loyalty rather than merit.
- The act required certain federal positions to be filled through competitive examinations, ensuring that candidates were selected based on their qualifications rather than political connections.
- It prohibited the firing or demotion of employees for political reasons and banned mandatory political contributions (known as “assessments”) from federal workers.
- The act established the Civil Service Commission to oversee the implementation of merit-based hiring and enforce its provisions.
Initially, only about 10% of federal jobs were covered, but presidents were allowed to expand its reach. By 1980, over 90% of federal positions fell under its protections. President Trump intends to roll back such protection to make more political appointment. Is this to insure that he can appoint managers committed to the faithful execution of his policies? Why then have many of his cabinet appointments been so unqualified to care out their responsibilities? An even bigger question is why the Republican controlled Congress has silently approved their appointments and why have they remained silent in the face of Trump’s many violation of law?
Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, has publicly outlined plans to go after individuals he perceives as part of the “deep state,” including journalists, Democrats, and former Trump allies. Trump has asked for the names of all FBI agents who work on the investigation of his violations of the law and he threatens to fire them. This sound more like an administrative coup than putting a strong team in place to “make America Great again.”
To take one example of executive actions that undermine rather than serve America interests, consider his strong support of Israel’s war against Palestinians, which even goes beyond Biden’s “blank check” support for Israel. After his threats to Mexico, Canada, Greenland, and Panama, he now plans to take control of Gaza, displace its two million Palestinian residents, and transform the area into a U.S. owned resort-like destination. In interviews, Trump described Gaza as having the potential to become “the Riviera of the Middle East” and suggested relocating Palestinians to neighboring countries like Jordan and Egypt, citing safety and redevelopment needs. He emphasized that Palestinians would not have a right to return under this plan, claiming they would be resettled in “better housing” elsewhere. Thus, Trump would join Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians directly.
On February 11, when meeting with Trump at the White House, Jordanian King Abdullah II was told that Jordan risked billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid that Amman receives every year if he did not back Trump’s Gaza displacement plan and admit millions of displaced Palestinians. Later Trump softened but did not withdraw his threat.
Trump has taken a number of other measures that signal his supporters will be exempt from the law. He pardoned approximately 1,500 people connected with the Jan 6 attack on the capital. “Rod Blagojevich and Eric Adams got off because they played the Trump card. Is that how justice now works in America? “Trump-Rod Blagojevich-Eric Adams lawfare corruption pardon”
“In a further jaw-dropping move…, Trump issued an Executive Order that suspends the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for 180 days, giving a greenlight to megabanks on Wall Street and other U.S. corporations to bribe officials in foreign countries to get business deals approved.” “Trump gives the greenlight to Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to return to bribing foreign officials”
To express his anger at what he considered disloyalty by former Trump administration officials such as Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook, John Bolton, and Mark Esper, Trump terminated their security protection.
All of these reflect Trump’s willingness to punish those who cross him. This provides a possible explanation for why Republicans have remained silent in the face of Trump’s violations of Congress’s laws and quietly approved unqualified cabinet appointments. They are afraid of his retribution.
So what do we do about DOGE’s freezing projects and payments and accessing confidential data bases. Is it for good or evil?
Checks and balances should be supplemented by independent inspectors and auditors. But Trump recently fired 17 Inspectors General from various federal agencies. All members of DOGE given access to confidential data should receive security clearances. Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), launched an image-sharing website called tesla.sexy in 2021. The site featured custom “shitposting” web addresses that redirected to content hosted on his platform. Some of these URLs referenced inappropriate and illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and racist themes. He was recently appointed as a senior adviser to the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology without a security clearance!!!
I am perplexed. I would like DOGE to identify waste and fraud and help reduce the scope of government and make what remains more efficient and effective. Understaffing air traffic control under Biden didn’t work out so well for the 67 people who died when a helicopter crashed into a passenger plane at Reagan National. Proper government functions should be properly performed. But I do not want it to become a weapon of a thin-skinned bully punishing those who oppose him. Among other things the president should not be able to remove oversight inspectors or otherwise weaken independent scrutiny.
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