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Yomiuri Shimbun
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
DOGE Vowed to Make Government More ‘Efficient' — but It's Doing the opposite
Allison Robbert/For The Washington Post President Donald Trump returns to the White House from a trip to his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, on May 25. Somewhere in the world last month, a State Department employee began the routine process of hiring a vendor for an upcoming embassy event – but quickly ran into a problem. The vendor was refusing to sign paperwork certifying that it did not promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or 'DEI,' a new requirement under President Donald Trump's executive order eradicating DEI from the government. The State employee – who spoke on the condition that neither he nor the location of his embassy be named, for fear of retaliation – sighed. Then he got busy: The work-around, he knew, would take time. First, he got his ambassador's signed approval to hire the vendor anyway. Next, he filled out an Office 365 form justifying the expense in 250 words before selecting which 'pillar' of necessary spending it fell under, choosing from options including 'Safer, Stronger, More Prosperous.' After submitting that to higher-ups and getting their sign-off, he filled out yet another form – this one destined for political appointees back in Washington. A week later, the vendor was secured. Under any previous administration, it would have taken one day, the employee said. Similar layers of new red tape are plaguing federal staffers throughout the government under the second Trump administration, stymieing work and delaying simple transactions, according to interviews with more than three dozen federal workers across 19 agencies and records obtained by The Washington Post. Many of the new hurdles, federal workers said, stem from changes imposed by the U.S. DOGE Service, Elon Musk's cost-cutting team, which burst into government promising to eradicate waste, fraud and abuse and trim staff and spending. The team's overarching goal was in its name: DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, although it is not part of the Cabinet. But as Musk departed government on Friday, many federal workers said DOGE has in many ways had the opposite effect. DOGE's intense scrutiny of federal spending is forcing employees to spend hours justifying even the most basic purchases. New rules mandating review and approval by political appointees are leaving thousands of contracts and projects on ice for months. Large-scale firings spearheaded by DOGE have cut support offices – especially IT shops – that assisted federal workers with issues ranging from glitching computers to broken desk chairs. And the piecemeal reassignment of staff is causing significant lags in work in some agencies, notably Social Security, as inexperienced workers adjust to new roles. Meanwhile, most everyone, across every agency, is dealing with fallout from new policies or executive orders – even as colleagues continue to resign or retire, increasing the workload for those who remain. 'Leadership is overcome with meetings and questions from people on how this will all work. The Human Resource teams have conflicting information, and confusion reigns,' said one Defense Department employee who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. Every day, he said, it feels like 'each person still standing is battling a dozen fires.' Many presidents try to reshape the sprawling federal bureaucracy to achieve their specific policy goals, said George Krause, a University of Georgia professor who studies public administration. Such efforts span Democratic and Republican administrations back to Richard M. Nixon, whose political appointees were known for clashing with career federal executives, Krause said. But the DOGE-driven efforts appear to be backfiring in ways that other initiatives did not. 'What Musk showed is that you cannot do this without a plan, and if you do it without a plan that respects some of the functions of government that everybody wants, then what's going to happen is you'll end up making the government less efficient, and not more efficient,' said Elaine Kamarck, director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution and a former Clinton administration official. White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement that, through DOGE, 'President Trump is curbing government waste and reforming a system that has long burdened American taxpayers.' He added: 'Anyone resistant to these critical reforms has had ample opportunity to step aside, but the work of DOGE will press forward unobstructed.' The State Department on Saturday shared an emailed statement from a 'senior official' it declined to name: 'The State Department will never apologize for putting processes in place to ensure taxpayer dollars are used correctly. It's what the American people expect and deserve.' But on Friday, almost exactly 24 hours after a Post reporter asked about the requirement that international vendors certify they do not promote DEI, State had issued guidance rescinding that mandate for staff overseas, according to a directive obtained by The Post. 'Holding up everything' At NASA, employees recently wrote several detailed paragraphs, across multiple rounds of emails, to win approval to buy simple fastening bolts, according to a staffer and records obtained by The Post. Within the General Services Administration, the government's real estate arm, more than 1,500 project requests – included fully executed leases and notices saying construction can begin – backed up in an internal tracker awaiting political appointees' attention, records show. Some items waited for months, and almost 200 are still on hold, while about 300 were never approved, an employee said. And at the Food and Drug Administration, once-routine tests on food – monitoring for accuracy in labeling, coloring and exposure to heavy metals – were delayed significantly, a former employee said. That's because the agency began requiring department-level approval for expenses at every step: Purchasing samples to test. Paying to ship samples between labs. Buying lab supplies. This hands-on approach reflects the Trump administration's drive to rein in what officials see as decades of unsupervised, wasteful federal spending. Speaking in the Oval Office in early February, Trump said, without providing evidence, that there are 'billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse … That's one of the reasons I got elected.' Citing the example of the Treasury Department, Musk claimed the government is missing 'basic controls that should be in place that are in place in any company,' such as categorizing payments by code and providing justifications for each expense. (Systems to do both already existed across agencies.) And so shortly after Trump's inauguration, DOGE imposed a $1 federal credit card freeze and limited purchasing power to only a handful of people in many departments, decisions that have incapacitated parts of agencies as varied as the National Park Service and the Pentagon. Soon, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Commerce Department required that political appointees green-light many funds before disbursement. In April, DOGE wrested control of a federal grants website used to dole out billions each year. Many federal employees said they supported closer inspections of how the government spends money. But in practice, they said, the Trump administration's chokehold is tangling up basic, everyday tasks. The results seem to run counter to the goal of efficiency. At air traffic control towers at two dozen West Coast airports, officials are unable to easily pay to have the windows washed and shades cleaned, said a Federal Aviation Administration employee. A DOGE-ordered overhaul of the payments system means FAA staffers must write statements justifying all expenditures, the employee said – not just for window-washing, but also elevator maintenance and even pens and pencils, the employee said. Purchase orders that used to take 15 or 20 minutes to fill out now consume 1 or 2 hours for each tower. 'These are things that people don't think about, but clean windows are crucial for controllers,' the employee said. Because he is so often busy with purchase justifications, he has fallen behind on landscaping, fire alarm safety and pest control, all of which are 'staples in the air traffic towers,' he said. The added reviews extend beyond financial issues to questions of policy and political speech, including press releases. At some parts of the National Institutes of Health, per an employee there, every grant must now be fed through an AI tool to screen for references to concepts deemed unpalatable by the Trump administration, such as 'DEI, transgender, China, or vaccine hesitancy,' the employee said. Further delaying grants is another new requirement: NIH staff must check to ensure the recipient isn't on the list of colleges and universities that have drawn Trump's wrath, including Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, Brown and Cornell. At the State Department, employees are spending hours combing through official documents to remove the words 'diverse,' equitable' and 'inclusive,' said a staffer there, months after Trump issued his executive order ending diversity efforts. NASA, the NIH, GSA, the FDA and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 'Nobody is working at top efficiency' The administration's ongoing shake-ups of the workforce, from buyout offers to firings to sweeping reorganizations, are also undermining efficiency. At the Social Security Administration, for example, Trump officials and DOGE pushed thousands of central-office workers to take lower-level positions answering phones in field offices, threatening to fire whoever did not make the jump, according to emails reviewed by The Post and interviews with a half dozen agency employees. Chaos has ensued across field offices in the weeks since the reassignments took effect, staffers said. Claims processing has bogged down as regular field office staff – already overburdened because of widespread resignations and retirements – are pulled off their normal duties to train incoming administrators and analysts. But the backlog means the trainings are being shortened and rushed through, employees said, so inexperienced, reassigned staffers start work unprepared. That leads to more mistakes, more requests for help and more backed-up claims – and more time wasted all around. To sum it up, 'you now have half the staff with very little knowledge of how to do the work,' one relocated staffer said. 'And the other half of staff overwhelmed with work and unable to really train or mentor these new folks.' Asked about the reassignments, Social Security provided an emailed statement from an unnamed official, whom it declined to identify. The statement said DOGE's work at Social Security had charted a new, better course for the agency. 'The voluntary reassignment of approximately 2,000 employees to direct service positions has not caused disruptions at the agency,' the statement read. 'As these employees complete their training and become fully proficient in their new positions, they will further accelerate the progress the agency is making.' DOGE reorganized other agencies by dismissing gobs of technical staffers, or incentivizing them to resign, and centralizing IT services. Although it sounded good in theory, said one Interior Department staffer, in practice, it meant he lost his in-office IT contact. He used to pop around the corner to ask for assistance – now, help tickets take up to three days. In other places, staff dismissals or departures are tripping up operations, as employees struggle to keep up with a sharply increased workload. One office in the Transportation Department lost nearly 15 percent of its staff, who were fired as probationary employees, then rehired, then promptly took advantage of the administration's second-round deferred resignation offer to leave for good, said a worker there. 'Now, all those jobs and responsibilities [have fallen on] everyone left,' the worker said. 'There's a learning curve, no knowledge transfer, and in some cases no access to do the job for a while. Lots of productivity lost.' Within one FDA office, a reduction in force removed everyone who worked in administrative support, a former staffer said: The people who coordinated travel, ran purchasing and processed personnel paperwork. Remaining staff were given general email addresses to contact, the staffer said, 'but no names.' Asked for comment, a range of agencies asserted that Trump was improving efficiency, not hurting it. 'President Trump's decisive actions have allowed us to eliminate bureaucratic waste,' said an Interior department spokesperson. 'We are replacing outdated, sluggish systems with streamlined, mission-driven operations,' said an HHS spokesperson, 'following years of unchecked spending, bureaucratic bloat, and ideologically driven initiatives that strayed from serving the American people.' But other employees say that strict imposition of Trump's return-to-office rule and requirements that federal workers must be in their seats from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. sharp are frustrating staffers, who say their productivity and drive have dropped. Within a research arm of the Defense Department, staff no longer take work home or travel to conferences on weekends, noted one employee. At FEMA, people have to take a day off or work a half-day to make medical appointments, rather than working remotely and missing fewer hours, said a staffer there. One Department of Homeland Security staffer noted that after her hours were changed to 9-5, it briefly prevented her from attending an 8 a.m. meeting – until higher-ups realized the problem and changed it. (DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement that 'meetings being moved is a small price to pay for federal employees to finally be back in their taxpayer funded offices to do their work for the American people.') Atop everything else, frayed, fatigued federal workers have little capacity left to do their jobs well, or at all, they said. 'People are so demoralized, anxious and sleep deprived,' said a NASA employee. 'Nobody is working at top efficiency.'
Washington Post
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Waltz bounced, Trump's 100 days, Dems eye 2028
Protesters gather for an anti-Trump protest outside the White House on April 19. (Allison Robbert for The Washington Post) President Donald Trump's second term started with a record-breaking pace of executive actions. Today, senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with White House reporter Natalie Allison and national reporter Maeve Reston about Trump's 100-day record and how the American public feels about some of his signature actions so far. They also discuss Trump's decision to switch out national security adviser Michael Waltz, and some early and very different recent maneuvers from some ambitious Democrats who could lead the party into the 2028 election – including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Today's show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Laura Benshoff. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What to Know About the Law Firms Targeted by Trump
President Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Mar. 6, 2025. Credit - Allison Robbert—ThePresident Donald Trump was expected to go after his enemies when he returned to the White House. But few predicted he would target 'Big Law' the way he has. 'Lawyers and law firms that engage in actions that violate the laws of the United States or rules governing attorney conduct must be efficiently and effectively held accountable,' Trump wrote in a March 22 memorandum. But the American Bar Association, which oversees academic standards for law schools and ethical codes for lawyers in the U.S., has pushed back at the idea that his actions taken against specific firms is about professional conduct. 'Lawyers must be free to represent clients and perform their ethical duty without fear of retribution,' ABA President William R. Bay said in a statement on March 3, after reports that the government 'decided to punish a prominent Washington, D.C., law firm because it represents a party that the administration does not like' and 'that actions may be taken against more law firms' in the weeks to come. 'We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not,' Bay's statement, which also addressed efforts by the Trump Administration to 'undermine the courts' or 'punish judges who rule certain ways.' But that didn't stop Trump. Over the past couple of weeks, the President has, through a series of executive actions, sought to punish several specific law firms that have been involved in any capacity in working against him, primarily by cancelling their national security clearances, which can impede the firms' work. Here's what to know about the law firms that Trump has issued orders against so far, why he's done so, and how each firm has responded. On March 27, Trump ordered the federal government to stop working with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale)—suspending the law firm's security clearances, directing federal agencies to terminate contracts they have with the firm, and limiting WilmerHale employees' access to government buildings. Trump lambasted the firm for employing former special counsel Robert Mueller—who led the special investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign's ties with Russia. Trump said WilmerHale 'rewarded' Mueller and his colleagues by 'welcoming them to the firm after they wielded the power of the Federal Government to lead one of the most partisan investigations in American history.' The President's order also criticized WilmerHale's diversity efforts, and claimed it worked against American interests as it 'engages in obvious partisan representations' and 'backs the obstruction of efforts' against illegal immigrants and drug trafficking. In a statement to the media, a spokesperson for WilmerHale called the order 'unlawful' and said the firm will pursue 'all appropriate remedies' to countermand it. The spokesperson added that Mueller 'retired from our firm in 2021.' 'Our firm has a longstanding tradition of representing a wide range of clients, including in matters against administrations of both parties,' the WilmerHale spokesperson said. On March 25, Trump issued an executive order against Chicago-headquartered firm Jenner & Block. Trump suspended security clearances for the firm's employees and restricted the firm's access to federal buildings and contracting work. In his order, Trump singled out Andrew Weissmann —a longtime deputy of Mueller and a top prosecutor in the Russia investigation—whom he says Jenner & Block was ''thrilled' to re-hire.' Weissmann worked for the firm from 2006 to 2011 and then again from 2020 to 2021 between stints in government. A spokesperson for Jenner & Block responded to the order: 'We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients' interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies.' The firm added in its statement that the executive order resembled one that 'has already been declared unconstitutional' by a federal judge. On March 14, Trump extended similar revocations of security clearances and government building access to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul, Weiss), which is headquartered in New York. In the order, Trump cited Paul, Weiss' former lawyer Mark Pomerantz, who investigated Trump for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from 2021. Pomerantz looked into Trump's finances and his links to adult film star Stormy Daniels but resigned from the DA Office in 2022, despite believing he had sufficient evidence against Trump, after DA Alvin Bragg opted not to pursue charges. In a surprise move, Trump rescinded the order against Paul, Weiss on March 21 after Paul, Weiss 'acknowledged the wrongdoing' of former partner Pomerantz and vowed to some policy changes, including the dedication of $40 million worth of pro bono legal services to 'support causes' of the Trump Administration like anti-Semitism efforts and 'fairness in the justice system.' Other law firms and lawyers described Paul, Weiss' response as cowing to Trump. Former associates wrote a letter calling the deal 'a permanent stain on the face of a great firm that sought to gain a profit by forfeiting its soul.' But the firm's chairman Brad Karp defended the agreement with Trump in an internal email to its employees, the New York Times reported, arguing the firm 'would not be able to survive a protracted dispute with the administration.' On March 6, Trump targeted Perkins Coie LLP, similarly suspending security clearances for the Seattle-headquartered law firm and ordering federal agencies to stop business with it. In the order, the President criticized the firm's 'dishonest and dangerous activity.' The firm is known in Washington for working with the Democratic Party, including commissioning a research and intelligence firm to look into Trump's ties to Russia for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. Trump also criticized the firm for its diversity initiatives and for taking on clients that work against the Administration's agenda. Perkins filed a suit on March 11 challenging the constitutionality of Trump's order, claiming that 'its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the president perceives as adverse to the views of his administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients.' A day later, a federal judge temporarily blocked part of Trump's order. On February 25, Trump signed an executive action stripping the security clearances of and reviewing all work the federal government has with Covington & Burling LLP, the largest law firm in D.C. In the memorandum, Trump named Peter Koski—a partner at the firm who represented former special prosecutor Jack Smith. Smith brought two criminal cases against the President, though they were dropped after Trump's election victory last November. Read More: How Trump Got Away With It, According to Jack Smith Politico reported that Smith received $140,000 in pro bono legal services from Covington before he resigned in January. A spokesperson for Covington said in a statement to ABC News that the firm agreed to represent Smith 'when it became apparent that he would become a subject of a government investigation' and that the firm serves as defense counsel to Smith 'in his personal, individual capacity.' The spokesperson added: "We look forward to defending Mr. Smith's interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so.' Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Both Trump and Xi Can Stop a Trade War
Credit - From left: Allison Robbert—The; Noel Celis—AFP/Getty Images I just returned from Beijing, where government and business leaders warned of rising tensions with the United States but remained hopeful that a deal is still within reach. There's no doubt that if negotiations fail, we are on the verge of another full-blown trade war. And no one wins in this scenario, especially China. I've spent 30 years engaging with Chinese leaders on trade, and this moment feels different. China's economy is weaker than at any point in the past two decades—youth unemployment is stubbornly high, the property market is slumping, and frustration is mounting among the middle class. Few in China will acknowledge Xi Jinping's political vulnerability, but his ability to manage these pressures is being closely watched. Meanwhile, China is hedging against U.S. pressure by strengthening trade ties with Russia and the Global South. Some African and Latin American leaders are seeing their countries flooded with Chinese goods and are pushing back against this effort. While diversifying into other export markets may work in the long term for China, in the short run, there's no substitute for the U.S. President Donald Trump, while holding a strong negotiating hand, also has reasons to avoid a breakdown in U.S.-China ties. His growth-focused agenda could be undermined if tariffs fuel inflation and weaken demand for U.S. exports. Trump has already ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods in the last few weeks, and Beijing has responded with countermeasures. With trade battles also unfolding with Canada and Mexico, a bitter protracted fight with China could further strain global supply chains. The impact wouldn't stop at the U.S. and China—markets across Europe, Asia, and beyond, which depend on trade with both economies, would feel the strain. The world's two largest economies cannot afford to let this spiral out of control. One reason for optimism is that both leaders are keeping channels open even as they exchange trade-war volleys. The just-concluded annual meetings of China's legislature and top government advisory body approved stronger, if modest measures to shore up the lackluster Chinese economy by raising consumer spending and boosting confidence in the private sector. Steadier ties with the U.S. would help China focus on domestic restructuring. If Xi signals a real willingness to negotiate, Trump should seize the moment. There is a path forward, if both sides are pragmatic. Trade barriers and technology controls top both countries' agendas. To increase the chances for success, negotiations should also be time-bound—six months, no more, to prevent talks from getting bogged down. Beijing has a history of dragging out negotiations or canceling them when pushed into a corner. A firm deadline keeps pressure on both sides to act in good faith. If talks stall, tariff increases should be back on the table. At the top of the agenda must be fentanyl. The Justice Department has determined that Chinese firms have supplied the chemicals Mexican cartels use to make the deadly opioid, and Chinese networks are suspected of laundering drug profits. Trump has made clear that any meaningful engagement with China must include stronger enforcement on fentanyl trafficking—and he's counting on his good relationship with Xi to elicit China's help. A trade war won't solve the problem, but a pragmatic, results-driven deal might. Given bipartisan political pressure in Washington to get tough on China over fentanyl, addressing this issue before formal trade negotiations would be tactically smart. Either way, Beijing must be willing to crack down at home to cut off supply—and it can, if serious. Trade commitments must be the next priority. During Trump's first term, Beijing pledged to purchase U.S. aircraft, agricultural goods, and energy, yet its follow-through has fallen short. If China expects the U.S. to retreat on tariffs, it must demonstrate good faith by fulfilling prior commitments. A trade deal that lacks enforceability is meaningless. As a show of faith, further escalation of tariffs should be suspended during negotiations. Neither side benefits from the uncertainty caused by continuously increasing duties. Markets react negatively to instability, and businesses on both sides are forced to rethink supply chains and investment strategies. A temporary pause on new tariffs would create the breathing room necessary for real negotiations to take place. This suspension, however, must be conditional—if China is found to be undermining talks or retaliating unfairly, the U.S. should reserve the right to reimpose penalties. Restrictions on technologies have been at the center of U.S.-China tensions in recent years and must also be part of the discussion. U.S. concerns that exports of advanced semiconductors or other leading-edge technologies could benefit the Chinese military are legitimate—and the U.S. must protect intellectual property. At the same time, excessive restrictions risk stifling investment and innovation. Washington and Beijing must find a way to set clear, enforceable guardrails that prevent national security risks while allowing most trade and investment in the technology sector to continue unimpeded. China's overproduction of industrial goods, electric vehicle exports, and investment restrictions are also fueling disputes with the European Union and other trading partners, who are weighing trade barriers against China. A U.S.-China agreement that removes the uncertainty of a trade war would generate positive ripples across the global economy. By engaging in a broader economic dialogue, Washington and Beijing can help prevent a wider fragmentation of global trade. In his first term, Trump reshaped U.S. policy toward China, rightly calling out its unfair trade practices and framing it as a geopolitical competitor. That more hawkish stance is now entrenched in Washington, but the shift toward confrontation and economic nationalism has gone too far. We are on the precipice of a Cold War-style divide, with each side viewing the other as an existential threat. It will take strong political leadership on both sides to pull back from the brink. I've seen U.S.-China relations shift dramatically over the years. One thing remains true: when both sides choose pragmatism over confrontation, deals happen. President Trump has an opening to strike a meaningful agreement—and he should take it. Contact us at letters@
