Department of Government Efficiency vital in accountability, transparency
Department of Government Efficiency vital in accountability, transparency | Opinion Long-overdue attempt to rein in government spending
President Donald Trump announced his intent to create a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a focus on dismantling government bureaucracy, cutting wasteful expenditures, slashing excess regulations, and restructuring federal agencies. Florida TaxWatch commends the president for this bold and long-overdue attempt to rein in government spending and make government more accountable.
In a recent book entitled 'Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law,' U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch chronicles a dramatic transfer of power from elected representatives to unelected agency officials. Justice Gorsuch cites a 2019 study by the Pacific Legal Foundation that found 71 percent of the more than 3,000 rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services between 2001 and 2017 were originated by lower-level officials, and not by Senate-confirmed agency leaders. At the Food and Drug Administration, that figure was 98 percent. In 2015, the Congress passed about 100 laws − federal agencies issued more than 3,000 final rules and published more than 2,200 proposed rules.
Justice Gorsuch uses several examples to illustrate this overreach by federal agencies, including The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West. Mr. Hemingway was given a six-toed cat by a ship's captain and some of the 60 or so cats who live on the museum grounds today are descendants of that original cat.
During a 2003 visit, an official from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) told museum staff that they needed a license to keep the cats, and that the cats should be confined to cages or individual shelters 'for their safety.' Months later, the USDA official returned with more suggestions to contain the cats, including hiring a night watchman for the cats, reducing the number of cats, or increasing the height of the historic brick wall that surrounds the museum. Because the museum is a National Historic Site, the wall could not be altered so the USDA recommended installing a 'hot wire' to electrically shock cats attempting to leave the property.
Fast forward to more than five years later and several modifications to the property under the threat of USDA fines ($200 per cat per day, totaling $10,000 per day), several appeals, and rejected hearings, the museum finally secured its license. All told, the museum spent more than $200,000 dealing with USDA officials. The bill for the taxpayers is unknown; however, CBS News documented 14 trips by federal agents and a $17,000 'cat evaluation.'
This is just one of many instances that illustrate what Justice Gorsuch refers to as the 'human toll of too much law.' When the U.S. Constitution was passed, the framers envisioned a federal government with limited authority. It was state and local governments, those closest to the people, to which the Constitution afforded 'numerous and indefinite' powers.
Since the 1960's, however, Congress has passed many new laws and created new federal agencies to deal with issues that were previously left up to the states. Justice Gorsuch cites a 1998 American Bar Association task force finding that 40 percent of federal criminal provisions enacted since the Civil War have been enacted since 1970. Estimates suggest that the number of federal regulations that carry criminal penalties exceeds 300,000!
Importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo which overturned its 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council opens the door for significant reform. This ruling has the effect of curtailing the power of federal agencies to interpret laws they administer, giving authority to interpret ambiguous laws to the courts.
The Loper Bright ruling opens the door for DOGE to eliminate thousands of regulations that exceed statutory authority. It is imperative that those tasked with responsibility for dismantling government bureaucracy, cutting wasteful expenditures, slashing excess regulations, and restructuring federal agencies focus their initial efforts on identifying and retiring laws and rules that are obsolete and those that infringe upon individual liberties.
If the Department of Government Efficiency is to be successful, it must get government off the backs of the taxpayer and keep it off.
Jeff Kottkamp, Esq., serves as the executive vice president and general counsel of Florida TaxWatch, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute and government watchdog for more than 45 years. He is the former lt. governor of the State of Florida.
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