Opinion - Business leaders are reshaping Washington and delivering for taxpayers

Yahoo

a day ago

President Trump's historic comeback victory included a mandate from the American people to reform the federal government. The inefficiencies of our broken bureaucracy are all too apparent to everyday Americans, and it was a big reason why they hired a new administration that specifically ran on fixing the system.
Americans know the problems our government faces today are urgent and require immediate action. They have watched as the federal bureaucracy has exploded in size and as their tax dollars are wasted on frivolous spending. All of us realize that maintaining our current course is no longer sustainable.
We are trillions of dollars in debt, and steadily approaching a point of no return. As Americans cut costs and work tirelessly to balance their own budgets after four years of economic uncertainty, they are now rightly demanding that the federal government do the same.
But like the old cliche about the definition of insanity, there is no reason to think that the same processes and personnel who have spent decades in government bureaucracies will be able to reform themselves without some outside help.
The status quo won't shake up the status quo.
We need an infusion of new ideas, personnel and leadership in our capital city. Specifically, we need to lean on one of America's great strengths and resources: our incredibly successful, world-leading private sector.
American businesses are second to none. We need to tap into the insights, methods and expertise of our business leaders and technical experts to turn the government around.
Thankfully, President Trump and his administration are doing just that. A number of the president's cabinet secretaries are Washington outsiders who bring heavyweight private sector resumes to their new roles. The same goes for key subcabinet posts.
For example, President Trump's nominee to run the federal Office of Personnel Management is a venture capitalist and tech executive with a quarter century of high-stakes business leadership under his belt.
The most notable place where the president has brought in fresh energy and ideas from the private sector is the Department of Government Efficiency.
Everybody knows about its leader, the hugely successful and outspoken entrepreneur Elon Musk. But a wealth of other top tech talent is working away behind the scenes, helping to find new efficiencies, examples of waste to cut and opportunities to update and upgrade how our government works.
The team includes the sharp, young engineers who have attracted political and press attention, but it also includes veteran executives and marquee leaders who have answered the call to serve.
Tom Krause, CEO of Cloud Software Group, is helping reform the Treasury Department's ancient payment processes. Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, is helping to digitize the tangled processes around federal retirements.
All of us are lucky that such well-respected minds in business and management are helping refocus our government around stewarding funds wisely and getting results. This is a turnaround project like no other, and it needs all hands on deck.
I had the privilege of serving on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee during my tenure representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I saw firsthand the misuse of federal funds, the inefficiency of the bureaucracy and the blatant waste of taxpayer dollars.
But making meaningful cuts in a smart, targeted way can be tricky business. We want to crack down on waste, fraud and overreach but preserve genuinely important programs that support hardworking families, encourage innovation in key fields like energy, national security and AI, and give taxpayers a strong return for their money.
Separating the wheat from the chaff takes skilled analysis and strong, outcome-driven leadership. These are not virtues for which Washington is famous. Luckily, the business world has them in spades.
Despite consternation from some in the media about bringing private-sector expertise into government, this is absolutely nothing new. High-profile businesspeople have served and advised presidential administrations of both parties, bringing their fresh perspectives to bear on problems that have stumped the permanent class inside Washington.
President Obama brought General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt to lead an economic advisory board, along with entrusting the executive chairman of Alphabet, Eric Schmidt, to lead a major Pentagon innovation board.
President Biden staffed his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology with a whole list of private sector leaders, including from tech giants Google, Microsoft and Nvidia.
President Trump and DOGE are working to fix the broken systems our government relies on. They are absolutely right to call upon our country's deep well of human capital in the form of our top business leaders to do it.
The American people have spoken, and they want significant and meaningful reform. A majority of Americans support DOGE's mission to increase accountability and enact long-lasting federal reforms. Already, thanks to DOGE's efforts, billions of dollars worth of savings have been found.
But if we're actually going to redirect the slow-moving shipwreck of federal waste and budget deficits, these early efforts must only be the beginning. We need to keep drawing on outside perspectives and the business world's results-driven mindset to cut through the jungle of red tape and deliver meaningful results for Americans everywhere.
Ryan Costello is an attorney and a former Republican member of Congress representing Pennsylvania.
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