logo
Trump never promised mass federal layoffs, and they won't fulfill his agenda, either

Trump never promised mass federal layoffs, and they won't fulfill his agenda, either

The Hill4 days ago

Leading up to the November election, the one issue voters cared about most was the cost of living. For Republican voters, immigration was a close second.
Concerns about government inefficiency did not even make the list. Months into the new administration, however, one of its top priorities is improving government efficiency, and its basic approach is to reduce the size of government through mass layoffs. The assumption seems to be that the government can operate just as efficiently with fewer employees.
But what if that assumption is wrong? What if our government is inefficient not because it has too many employees, but has too many employees because it is so inefficient?
All of us interact with the government at different levels, and all of us know the feeling of being caught in a maze of dead ends.
Years ago, my company tried to purchase one-tenth of an acre of land from the New York State Thruway Authority to put up a sign. The parcel was completely landlocked, and the authority no longer needed it.
When we asked the authority how long it would take to buy the land, they said five years, which we found hard to imagine. It took over six.
From start to finish, we found the process unbelievably frustrating. But we didn't come away wishing the authority had fewer employees. We came away angry that the state legislature, which established the authority and sets rules for its operation, takes no interest in how it actually works.
For the federal government, Congress sets the rules. Congress may include specific rules for the executive branch to follow in carrying out its legislation, or it may delegate large areas of rule-making to the agencies themselves.
Either way, the number and complexity of agency rules are key factors in determining how many people government agencies employ and whether they can efficiently deliver results. Moreover, new regulations are often layered on top of old ones without any thought of how they will work together.
Another factor in making government work is the strength or weakness of its information systems. In 'Recoding America,' Jennifer Pahlka examines why high-minded policies so often fail to deliver on their goals.
Sometimes, bad results are front-page news, such as the crash of healthcare.gov when people tried to enroll in health care exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. More often, however, government systems deliver results in ways that are slow, confusing and frustrating, both for employees providing services and for people trying to use them.
Part of the problem, again, is 'layers of policy, regulation, procedure and process that have accrued over decades,' making any technology hard to use. But Pahlka found overlaps in technology as well, with some systems dating back to the 1980s.
Comparing new technologies to layers of paint, she writes that each new addition 'depends on everything that came before it, so each successive layer is constrained by the limitations of the earlier technologies.' Over time, the layers become so complex and brittle that the paint finally cracks.
For people offering tech support to the federal government, overhauling this patchwork of systems would be a good place to start. After decades of deferred maintenance, however, fixing it will not save money in the short term.
Improvements will be costly, time-consuming, and will require hanging on to the few employees who still know how everything works, rather than offering blanket early retirement incentives and imposing mass layoffs.
A serious effort to make government work better would begin with these two steps: peeling back layers of complex regulations and updating the technologies needed to deliver better results.
Cutting jobs without taking these steps first won't create efficiencies. Instead, it will leave fewer people in place to do the same amount of work. Furthermore, sudden cuts to ongoing programs and capital projects create their own type of waste by disrupting supply chains, investment decisions and hiring commitments.
Devoting so much energy to layoffs and funding cuts also takes attention away from the issues that helped decide the 2024 election in the first place.
On immigration, the administration can take credit for the large drop in illegal crossings at the southern border. But on other issues, including employment-based immigration and the fate of more than 11 million people already living illegally in the U.S., public opinion is far more divided, and these problems cannot be fixed by executive orders alone because responsibility for immigration laws rests with Congress, not the executive branch.
Relying solely on executive orders will leave the administration liable to claims that it is both overreaching its authority and, in a grim sort of protection scheme, shielding Republican members of Congress from voting on difficult issues.
The prospects for curbing inflation are no better. Tariffs, tax cuts, reduced immigrant labor and pressures on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low all work against the promise to keep inflation in check.
Recognizing the trade-offs, a frustrated President Trump said in March that he 'couldn't care less' about higher car prices. Voters who were concerned about inflation last November may not agree.
Howard Konar is co-owner of a family real estate development company in Rochester, New York and author of 'Common Ground, An Alternative to Partisan Politics.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

LA's Only Elected Republican Reacts to National Guard Troops, ICE Raids
LA's Only Elected Republican Reacts to National Guard Troops, ICE Raids

Newsweek

time28 minutes ago

  • Newsweek

LA's Only Elected Republican Reacts to National Guard Troops, ICE Raids

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The only elected Republican in Los Angeles, Kathryn Barger, warned that there must be close coordination between federal, state, and local agencies if President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to quell the city's riots is to work. Her warning, in an email to Newsweek, comes as Trump clashes with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, over his deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines. Newsom and Bass oppose the moves, accusing the Republican president of fueling the disorder. Barger, a Los Angeles County Supervisor, is the sole Republican elected to office at the local government level in the LA area. There are no other Republicans on the LA County Board of Supervisors, and none at all elected to the LA City Council. She also called for "transparency, accountability, and respect" from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as it conducts raids across LA, operations that sparked the unrest. Protests in the city against raids by ICE over the weekend have descended into riots and looting. The raids are part of the Trump Administration's effort to deport all illegal immigrants from the U.S., with an emphasis on violent criminals. Newsom and Bass said state and local authorities can handle the situation without National Guard troops. But Trump says he is reestablishing law and order after failures by local and state leadership. "The deployment of National Guard troops is a significant action that must be approached with great care and coordination," Barger told Newsweek. "While I understand the urgency that may prompt federal involvement, I believe any such deployment must be done in close partnership with state and local agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities. "Effective use of this powerful resource depends on clear communication, mutual goals, and a unified command structure. "My focus remains on making sure that all efforts—federal, state, and local—are aligned to deliver real support where it's needed most." This picture taken on June 8, 2025 shows a protestor raising their fist while holding a Mexican flag in front of a Waymo vehicle that was set on fire during a demonstration following federal immigration... This picture taken on June 8, 2025 shows a protestor raising their fist while holding a Mexican flag in front of a Waymo vehicle that was set on fire during a demonstration following federal immigration operations in Los Angeles. More BLAKE FAGAN/AFP via Getty Image Barger also urged ICE to minimize "fear and disruption among law-abiding residents." "Immigration enforcement is a deeply complex and sensitive issue, especially in a diverse region like Los Angeles County," Barger told Newsweek. "Federal agencies like ICE are tasked with upholding the law and I believe it's critical that their operations are conducted with transparency, accountability, and respect for the communities they affect. "My priority is ensuring that all enforcement actions are carried out in a way that upholds public safety while minimizing fear and disruption among law-abiding residents. "Local and federal agencies must work together thoughtfully to maintain trust, protect civil liberties, and ensure due process is respected at every level." This is a developing article. Updates to follow.

All us billionaires who voted Patronis must be celebrating ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
All us billionaires who voted Patronis must be celebrating ‘Big Beautiful Bill'

USA Today

time33 minutes ago

  • USA Today

All us billionaires who voted Patronis must be celebrating ‘Big Beautiful Bill'

All us billionaires who voted Patronis must be celebrating 'Big Beautiful Bill' | Letters Show Caption Hide Caption PNJ Headlines: Here's what's in the news Tuesday People react to arrest of woman with dementia, Santa Rosa zoning board controversy, and Seventy1 Bistro in Tuesday's news Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are those of our readers and not the Pensacola News Journal. In order for letters to be considered for publication, they must be 250 words or less and include your full name, address and phone number. Only your name and city of residence will be published. Submission does not guarantee publication. Email submissions to opinion@ All us billionaires who voted for Patronis must be celebrating now To all voters in House District 1, there was a special election on April 1. Just recently, you were asked to exercise your constitutional right to vote for your representative. The race was between Democrat Gay Valimont and Republican Jimmy Patronis. And Jimmy Patronis won. Thank you to all who voted. Just to point out that your vote counts, the U.S. House of Representatives voted this week on the 'Big Beautiful Budget' that will cut Medicaid, SNAP, and Meals on Wheels to name just a few things. And this budget will also give tax breaks to all of you billionaires. The amazing thing is that it passed by one vote! It comes down to what is important to you. If more people had voted to elect Gay Valimont, that bill would not have passed, we would not have the possibility giant cuts to Medicaid and the other cuts in this Budget. Since more people voted for Jimmy Patronis, there is the possibility that huge tax cuts will be available for the very rich. Which will affect you? If Gay Valimont had been elected on April 1, you would have been responsible for saving Medicaid and disappointing those billionaires in the neighborhood. Please don't think that your vote doesn't count. Because it does. It did. And will continue to matter. Donna Grace, Gulfport Perhaps neighborhood developers should take bear habitat into consideration Whose fault is it that bears are "encroaching" on our neighborhoods? For how many years and how many acres have people encroached on bear habitat? Maybe those responsible for giving permission for development should identify bear habitat and consider the bears. Then maybe the bears would not get a death sentence from those who moved into their land. Perhaps redevelopment of rundown areas could be considered, instead. Meg Melvin, Pensacola Pensacola Beach could do more to give warning flags better visibility As a resident of Santa Rosa and Escambia counties off and on for almost 50 years, Pensacola Beach is a big part of my life. You hear about the beach warning flag system daily on the news, which is a great thing. Arriving on Santa Rosa Island from the Bob Sikes Bridge, you immediately see the warning flag color (which can change throughout the day). If you set up at the Casino Beach parking lot, you are one of the few lucky ones that can see the warning flag. We recently rented 102 Ariola Drive for the week. There were 13 of us of whom only two could see what color the warning flag was that was flying at the end of the pier. The lifeguard trucks that roam the beach have what amounts to a small piece of colored cloth attached under a surfboard. There are a lot of American flags flying on the shoreline, but not one beach warning flag! People are chastised and berated for not following the warning flags that they cannot see! The warning flag system is a great idea but can only be followed if it is visible. It seems the lifeguard trucks can put in a little effort and fly a warning flag. Also, if you display the warning flags along with the American flags, they would be visible to many and do the job they were intended to do, save lives. Cyndi Schumaker, Milton Donald Trump's corruption must be resisted As the continuing blatant immorality and corruption of Donald Trump seems inevitable, the temptation to just accept it increases. But he will be stopped! We cannot just give up. Our voices of protest must continue to mobilize the people. Stopping Trump won't end the threat to the United States and our system of government. The demise of Marx and Hitler did not end Marxism and Fascism. Trumpism has spread to a large portion of our population. The resistance to the threat they project must continue. Our vigilance and action against them will continue. The extreme right of neo-Nazis and white Christian nationalists will not go away. But their political aims can be suppressed. Michael Gilbert, Jay Memorial Day is not for veterans, but for those who gave all This weekend is not Veterans Day. It's Memorial Day — a time not to thank the living, but to honor the fallen. I say this with the utmost sincerity, please do not thank veterans this weekend. Those of us who are veterans have our day in November. Memorial Day is for our brothers, sisters, and siblings who gave everything — the ones who didn't come home. When you thank us now, it reminds us that we made it back while they did not. It's a heavy reminder, one that intensifies the pain. This weekend is not about service — it's about sacrifice. To the estimated 22 veterans we lose to suicide daily — we remember you. Not every battle ends on the battlefield. Our hearts are with your families. The fight to support change and support service members must continue. Veterans represent every race, religion, ethnicity, and background. They spoke many languages and had families from every corner of the world. They loved in many ways. Make sure your idea of patriotism is not narrow minded. Honor all of them. To the family of SrA Fortson, we honor his service, his legacy, and his sacrifice. He was a hero. While justice may be absent, we continue to demand accountability. Christina Forrest, Navarre Why is DeSantis fighting so hard to deny climate change Floridians, it's time to get serious about combating climate change. Why is it taboo to include those words in any government legislative materials? Gov. DeSantis doesn't believe that our weather is changing in dramatic ways. He like Donald Trump dismisses the evidence that these wild weather patterns have anything to do with manmade emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. Extensive scientific studies have shown that these gases emitted into our atmosphere are heating the planet beyond normal cycles producing havoc (e.g. historic numbers of devastating storms, fires, tornadoes and droughts). DeSantis supports Donald Trump's willingness to 'drill baby drill' producing more polluting fossil fuels. DeSantis offered marginal effort to reduce damage to our environment by banning release of helium filled balloons over our waterways (known to harm/kill turtles/other sea life). Yet he has prevented cities and counties from banning the distribution of more damaging plastic bags. Encouraging the use of multiple cotton or plastic bags is a meaningful step to reducing production of petrochemicals. Estimates by reliable sources show that we Americans use approximately 100 billion single use plastic bags each year. By eliminating those bags, we could avoid production of three million barrels of oil. Wayne Seden, Gulf Breeze Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Pensacola News Journal using the link at the bottom of the page under Stay Connected.

Trump using L.A. unrest to push his big bill in D.C.
Trump using L.A. unrest to push his big bill in D.C.

Axios

time39 minutes ago

  • Axios

Trump using L.A. unrest to push his big bill in D.C.

President Trump and his allies have a new message for wobbly Republicans in Congress: Either support his "Big Beautiful Bill" or get bashed for backing the Los Angeles protesters waving Mexican flags in front of burning cars. Why it matters: It's a sign of the political hardball Trump is playing within his own party. At the same time, he's squeezing California's Democratic leaders with what critics call an over-the-top response to protests fueled by his immigration crackdown. The drama in L.A. has helped the White House shift some of its focus from Trump's feud with Elon Musk and place it squarely on immigration — an issue on which Trump continues to poll relatively well despite growing discontent over his aggressive push for arrests and deportations. As California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass accuse Trump of escalating the tension there, the White House sees a chance to attack sanctuary city policies, embarrass Democrats and show the need for the immigration funding in the mammoth bill that most Republicans strongly support. Zoom in: Trump has long backed using force — even the military — to subdue destructive protests. But his advisers say there was no master plan for immigration raids to spark the type of protests and vandalism in L.A. that would lead Trump to call in the National Guard, over Newsom and Bass' objections. The big picture: To Trump's team, Newsom's opposition, the televised images of vandalized cars, and protesters throwing rocks and waving foreign flags to oppose U.S. immigration arrests did more to boost the White House's push to maintain GOP support for Trump's bill than any of its recent talking points. "We see the riots in L.A. laden with political opportunity, in that it's a fight between what Republicans say they want vs. the radical left and protesters waving the Mexican flag in front of burning cars — and the Democrats supporting them," said a senior White House adviser. "It's the best BBB marketing ever. It has brought the critical nature of increased border funding and immigration enforcement to the fore," said Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Turning Point USA, a major voice in Republican advocacy. "Everyone we're talking to in the Senate says this put it over the top." To Kolvet's point, Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate's Republican conference, sent out three talking points Monday to his GOP colleagues emphasizing Newsom's role and violent protestors. Cotton also tussled with Newsom on X. In one reply, the senator posted a picture of a masked demonstrator waving a Mexican flag atop a vandalized car with flames in the background. Reality check: There is a constitutional question about whether Trump is empowered to call up the California National Guard when its governor is opposed. Newsom is suing. The context is dramatically different, but a president calling in the Guard over a governor's objection has happened before. In 1968, President Johnson did so to enforce civil rights laws amid opposition from Alabama Gov. George Wallace. Late Monday, Trump also moved to deploy Marines to Los Angeles, an unprecedented escalation in modern times, further angering California officials. What they're saying:"Republicans are trying to take away health care from millions of Americans in order to give tax breaks to billionaires — so Trump is manufacturing a crisis, demonizing immigrants with increasing extremism, cruelty and disregard for the law," California Sen. Alex Padilla said on X Monday. "It's the Trump playbook." But Padilla's post, which featured a TV news clip of him making the comments, showed the messaging problem Democrats face. It was displayed in a split screen of him talking juxtaposed with video of a burning car. It wasn't clear Monday whether Trump's California political play was changing any holdout Republicans' votes on his signature bill. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the few GOP no votes on the legislation last month, still opposes the bill because of its deficits and policies favoring state and local tax (SALT) deductions that particularly benefit blue states. "The 'Big Beautiful Bill' actually rewards Gov. Newsom's failed polices with a $100 billion gift to California in the form of increased SALT deductions," he told Axios in a written statement. The protests "are a bitter reminder that Trump let California and NY Republicans ransom his border security agenda," Massie added. Another congressional Republican who has serious problems with the bill told Axios on background that "this has always been the plan by BBB supporters — to use the border as pressure to not address the fiscal impact of some/many of the taxes." Trump's L.A. response is "just a circumstance of not letting a crisis go to waste."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store