Before Im accused of bashing President Trump, let me say that I support his broad goal to make government cost less. This hasnt been tackled successfully since Clinton/Gore launched the “National Partnership for Reinventing Government” (NPR) in 1993. Certainly, the time has come for another thorough review of government efficiency.
Elon Musk has claimed that the Department of Government Efficiency work is similar to that of the NPR. I disagree. You can find details of the NPR process and results here, but here are some key points. The broader goal was to make federal government not only cost less, but to “work better, cost less, and get results Americans care about.” Both Republicans and Democrats supported this initiative. An elected official, VP Gore, led a task force that spent six months consulting with departments and reviewing proposals. Their subsequent report listed 384 recommendations, many of which were implemented over the next several years yup, years with Congressional approval when appropriate. They took time to consider people and services in addition to cost. Over 375,000 federal positions were cut; hundreds of agencies consolidated; outdated regulations eliminated; paper forms moved online; BILLIONS of dollars saved. And to top it off, polls showed that the publics trust in government increased.
Contrast this with DOGE, headed by a private citizen with no prior experience in government, focused only on cost-cutting, hurriedly eliminating agencies, departments, and employees in days or weeks without studying their missions and the value they provide so that repercussions of cuts can be weighed, pro and con, before theyre implemented.
Only time will tell the end result of these cuts, firings and layoffs, but lets look at a tiny sampling of the fallout. The effects on critical or highly desirable services, on the large numbers of people who are losing jobs and benefits, and on the overburdened coworkers left behind.
- Loss of thousands of National Park System positions may mean substandard service, shorter hours, fewer open days, and partial closures for some parks.
- Department of Health and Human Services is slated to lose nearly a quarter of its workforce (20,000 people), putting public health and food safety at risk.
- Downsizing the IRS will exacerbate delayed processing of returns and refunds and lower the quality of service to taxpayers. Whats more, these cuts are predicted to result in a loss of $500 billion in tax revenues.
- Disruption of USAID will lead to needless suffering and deaths in countries where the U.S. has built international goodwill. Even if you dont care about the loss of life, the loss of goodwill weakens our national security.
- In the rush, mistakes are being made. Musk admitted that DOGE accidentally cancelled Ebola prevention during the USAID cuts. Theyve cancelled contracts that were already cancelled. Theyve mistakenly fired workers in multiple agencies and had to rehire. Sure, they can try to fix mistakes, but thats not efficient, and its not damage-free. A slower, more planned implementation of changes could prevent this madness.
Consider the human element, too. Employees with stellar work records summarily fired via email. Others suffer damaged reputations, fired for cause without any evidence of poor performance. All done with little or no prior notice and without due process. They leave behind offices understaffed with people in constant fear of losing their own jobs.
I like to think that most fellow South Dakotans would agree to treat people with decency like they matter because they do.
Last Saturday, Hands-Off demonstrations were held in 1,200 cities across the nation, including Brookings, suggesting that DOGE could take some pointers from the NPR because public trust is waning fast.
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