Latest news with #ReinventingGovernment
Vox
a day ago
- Business
- Vox
What happens to DOGE without Elon Musk?
Elon Musk holds a news conference with President Donald Trump to mark the end of his tenure as a special government employee overseeing DOGE on May 30 in the Oval Office of the White House. Tom Brenner for Washington Post via Getty Images Elon Musk may be gone from the Trump administration — and his friendship status with President Donald Trump may be at best uncertain — but his whirlwind stint in government certainly left its imprint. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), his pet government-slashing project, remains entrenched in Washington. During his 130-day tenure, Musk led DOGE in eliminating about 260,000 federal employee jobs and gutting agencies supporting scientific research and humanitarian aid. But to date, DOGE claims to have saved the government $180 billion — well short of its ambitious (and frankly never realistic) target of cutting at least $2 trillion from the federal budget. And with Musk's departure still fresh, there are reports that the federal government is trying to rehire federal workers who quit or were let go. For Elaine Kamarck, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, DOGE's tactics will likely end up being disastrous in the long run. 'DOGE came in with these huge cuts, which were not attached to a plan,' she told Today, Explained co-host Sean Rameswaram. Kamarck knows all about making government more efficient. In the 1990s, she ran the Clinton administration's Reinventing Government program. 'I was Elon Musk,' she told Today, Explained. With the benefit of that experience, she assesses Musk's record at DOGE, and what, if anything, the billionaire's loud efforts at cutting government spending added up to. Below is an excerpt of the conversation, edited for length and clarity. There's much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify. What do you think Elon Musk's legacy is? Well, he will not have totally, radically reshaped the federal government. Absolutely not. In fact, there's a high probability that on January 20, 2029, when the next president takes over, the federal government is about the same size as it is now, and is probably doing the same stuff that it's doing now. What he did manage to do was insert chaos, fear, and loathing into the federal workforce. There was reporting in the Washington Post late last week that these cuts were so ineffective that the White House is actually reaching out to various federal employees who were laid off and asking them to come back, from the FDA to the IRS to even USAID. Which cuts are sticking at this point and which ones aren't? First of all, in a lot of cases, people went to court and the courts have reversed those earlier decisions. So the first thing that happened is, courts said, 'No, no, no, you can't do it this way. You have to bring them back.' The second thing that happened is that Cabinet officers started to get confirmed by the Senate. And remember that a lot of the most spectacular DOGE stuff was happening in February. In February, these Cabinet secretaries were preparing for their Senate hearings. They weren't on the job. Now that their Cabinet secretary's home, what's happening is they're looking at these cuts and they're saying, 'No, no, no! We can't live with these cuts because we have a mission to do.' As the government tries to hire back the people they fired, they're going to have a tough time, and they're going to have a tough time for two reasons. First of all, they treated them like dirt, and they've said a lot of insulting things. Second, most of the people who work for the federal government are highly skilled. They're not paper pushers. We have computers to push our paper, right? They're scientists. They're engineers. They're people with high skills, and guess what? They can get jobs outside the government. So there's going to be real lasting damage to the government from the way they did this. And it's analogous to the lasting damage that they're causing at universities, where we now have top scientists who used to invent great cures for cancer and things like that, deciding to go find jobs in Europe because this culture has gotten so bad. What happens to this agency now? Who's in charge of it? Well, what they've done is DOGE employees have been embedded in each of the organizations in the government, okay? And they basically — and the president himself has said this — they basically report to the Cabinet secretaries. So if you are in the Transportation Department, you have to make sure that Sean Duffy, who's the secretary of transportation, agrees with you on what you want to do. And Sean Duffy has already had a fight during a Cabinet meeting with Elon Musk. You know that he has not been thrilled with the advice he's gotten from DOGE. So from now on, DOGE is going to have to work hand in hand with Donald Trump's appointed leaders. And just to bring this around to what we're here talking about now, they're in this huge fight over wasteful spending with the so-called big, beautiful bill. Does this just look like the government as usual, ultimately? It's actually worse than normal. Because the deficit impacts are bigger than normal. It's adding more to the deficit than previous bills have done. And the second reason it's worse than normal is that everybody is still living in a fantasy world. And the fantasy world says that somehow we can deal with our deficits by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. That is pure nonsense. Let me say it: pure nonsense. Where does most of the government money go? Does it go to some bureaucrats sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue? It goes to us. It goes to your grandmother and her Social Security and her Medicare. It goes to veterans in veterans benefits. It goes to Americans. That's why it's so hard to cut it. It's so hard to cut it because it's us.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sound Off: April 27, 2025
Every member of Congress that went to El Salvador along with Congressional members who are providing narratives that state how this 'Maryland man' must be returned so he can receive the 'due process' he's entitled to is absolutely wrong and they should all be censored for their actions. In 1960, protesters were attacked for integrating the beach on U.S. 90. Is this what 'Make America Great Again' means? Today, Black spring breakers are still being discouraged from enjoying our beach. President Trump appealed to Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine via social media. If birthright citizenship goes away, will I still be a U.S. citizen? I was born here as well as both my parents, but all four of my grandparents were born in the old country, and none of them made the effort to learn to speak any English. So how do I know if they made the effort to become naturalized citizens? If not, then I won't be a U.S. citizen either. How about you? Personally, I find it fascinatingly funny that liberal judges and the media believe it illegal to deport illegals. President Trump's answer to our heavily regulated society is to break everything he doesn't like. Regulations have generally been created to remedy a problem. Research food safety in the early 1900s if you don't believe that. Sometimes these regulations outlive their usefulness or become outdated by new ideas. Clinton and Gore had a process called 'Reinventing Government' back in the 90s. This process was collaborative and involved Congress and federal employees as assistants, not the enemy. Google it and check out the right way to modernize our Government. According to CNN, the Trump administration has denied Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' request to declare a major disaster for recent March tornadoes in Arkansas. This denial follows executive orders signed by Trump seeking to shift the financial burden to the states. So far, it is unclear whether Mississippi and Missouri face similar denials. Gov Sanders has appealed the denial. Take note, Mississippi hurricane watchers, a change is coming. So now we're going to back off the tariffs on China? Looks like another L for Mr. Art of the Deal. Do you know what will happen to our country, or better still civilization, if we stop scientific research? It looks like we are about to see. An investigative reporter uncovers a 'secret plan' to develop Front Beach condos. Mayor Holloway to voters: Oh, we're just thinking about it. Voters to Holloway: We're kicking you and your minions out of office. The developers then have the pure audacity to approach the incoming council with the same plan. After watching the voters kick Holloway and company out of office, they're not about to touch the plan. So much for that deal. Donald Trump is making himself look foolish by shouting out to Vladimir Putin on social media, 'Vladimir, STOP!', as though that will have the least influence on Putin's ambitions in Ukraine and eastern Europe. Taking my life in my hands, I crossed Lorraine Road to hit the McDonald's before I starved to death. As if that's not hard enough, some clown in a dark blue crossover had to blow his horn at me. Such compassion. Such understanding. Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hillary Clinton lambasts 'dumb' Trump administration over Signal chat leak in NY Times essay
Hillary Clinton lambasted the Trump administration over its Signal chat leak and repeatedly called its policies "dumb" in a blistering essay published Friday in the New York Times. The former Democratic presidential candidate and secretary of state assailed President Donald Trump and his team as careless and stupid over its short tenure in office so far. "It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it's the stupidity. We're all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don't actually care about protecting classified information or federal record retention laws," Clinton wrote. "But we knew that already. What's much worse is that top Trump administration officials put our troops in jeopardy by sharing military plans on a commercial messaging app and unwittingly invited a journalist into the chat. That's dangerous. And it's just dumb." Clinton posted on X earlier this week, "You have got to be kidding me," in response to the news from The Atlantic that editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been accidentally included on a group Trump administration chat about attacking Yemen. Clinton's use of a private email server at the State Department and accusations she mishandled classified information dogged her unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign. Atlantic Journalist At Center Of Leak Story Faces Fury From Trump, Top Officials Clinton boasted in the Times essay that she employed "smart" power as the first secretary of state under President Barack Obama. Read On The Fox News App "The Trump approach is dumb power. Instead of a strong America using all our strengths to lead the world and confront our adversaries, Mr. Trump's America will be increasingly blind and blundering, feeble and friendless," Clinton wrote. Among Clinton's complaints were the Trump administration's gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), closing embassies and consulates, and layoffs within the government hitting intelligence agencies. Clinton hammered away at the theme that Trump's team was unintelligent, calling various Trump administration moves "not smart," "dumb power," "dumb," and "dumb and dangerous." She also contrasted the Trump administration's government trimming initiative, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) with her husband's work in the 1990s. Senate Armed Services Leaders Ask Pentagon Watchdog To Probe Leaked Signal Chat "During the Clinton administration, my husband's Reinventing Government initiative, led by Vice President Al Gore, worked with Congress to thoughtfully streamline bureaucracy, modernize the work force and save billions of dollars. In many ways it was the opposite of the Trump administration's slash-and-burn approach. Today they are not reinventing government; they're wrecking it," she wrote. Clinton's attacks on Trump come at the end of a week dominated by the Signal chat leak news. The Atlantic has posted the private messages which it says show a severe national security breach, while Trump Cabinet members have maintained no classified material was discussed in the forum. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for article source: Hillary Clinton lambasts 'dumb' Trump administration over Signal chat leak in NY Times essay
Fox News
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Hillary Clinton lambasts 'dumb' Trump administration over Signal chat leak in NY Times essay
Hillary Clinton lambasted the Trump administration over its Signal chat leak and repeatedly called its policies "dumb" in a blistering essay published Friday in the New York Times. The former Democratic presidential candidate and secretary of state assailed President Donald Trump and his team as careless and stupid over its short tenure in office so far. "It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it's the stupidity. We're all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don't actually care about protecting classified information or federal record retention laws," Clinton wrote. "But we knew that already. What's much worse is that top Trump administration officials put our troops in jeopardy by sharing military plans on a commercial messaging app and unwittingly invited a journalist into the chat. That's dangerous. And it's just dumb." Clinton posted on X earlier this week, "You have got to be kidding me," in response to the news from The Atlantic that editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been accidentally included on a group Trump administration chat about attacking Yemen. Clinton's use of a private email server at the State Department and accusations she mishandled classified information dogged her unsuccessful 2016 presidential camapign. Clinton boasted in the Times essay that she employed "smart" power as the first secretary of state under President Barack Obama. "The Trump approach is dumb power. Instead of a strong America using all our strengths to lead the world and confront our adversaries, Mr. Trump's America will be increasingly blind and blundering, feeble and friendless," Clinton wrote. Among Clinton's complaints were the Trump administration's gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), closing embassies and consulates, and layoffs within the government hitting intelligence agencies. Clinton hammered away at the theme that Trump's team was unintelligent, calling various Trump administration moves "not smart," "dumb power," "dumb," and "dumb and dangerous." She also contrasted the Trump administration's government trimming initiative, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) with her husband's work in the 1990s. "During the Clinton administration, my husband's Reinventing Government initiative, led by Vice President Al Gore, worked with Congress to thoughtfully streamline bureaucracy, modernize the work force and save billions of dollars. In many ways it was the opposite of the Trump administration's slash-and-burn approach. Today they are not reinventing government; they're wrecking it," she wrote. Clinton's attacks on Trump come at the end of a week dominated by the Signal chat leak news. The Atlantic has posted the private messages which it says show a severe national security breach, while Trump Cabinet members have maintained no classified material was discussed in the forum. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Running government like a business is a bust
Billionaire Elon Musk, left accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Musk's son, X Musk, speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by) Politicians love to spew the line that they will 'run government like a business.' But one might wonder where they get that idea since neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Montana Constitution contain even one line saying that's the goal for how our national and state governments should operate. Yet, when people hear that line they assume it will mean government will theoretically be better. Here in Montana, former governor Marc Racicot gave it a shot 32 years ago, following the precepts of a popular book titled Reinventing Government, to reorganize state agencies. The book describes how 'entrepreneurial public managers are transforming the public sector with decentralized, customer-driven, and market-oriented approaches.' Racicot's line, straight from the book, was a promise to make government 'more efficient and effective.' In truth, it was a costly exercise that provided few, if any, of the promised efficiencies since entire agencies were shuttered, merged, and moved from existing office spaces into different buildings — many of which had to be modified extensively while other new and extremely costly buildings were constructed. Even just moving the files, desks, computers, monitors, and copying machines was a costly and time-consuming process some likened to re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. And of course all the letterhead, envelopes, etc., had to be reprinted while the existing agency materials hit the trash or recycling can — unused, but efficiently discarded. Ironically, there was absolutely no way to determine if government actually improved for agencies or the public. Thanks to erasing the 'baseline' operational costs and efficiencies, the state started over with new agencies lacking any track record, good or bad. And that doesn't count the inefficiencies the reorganization engendered — including months of 'advisory committees' to hammer out such vital issues as mission statements for the new agencies. When it came to 'increasing competition' — another tenet of Reinventing Government — Montanans got utility deregulation that was supposed to bring down our electricity rates because we'd have more 'choice' and theoretically, competition would drive lower prices. The result was one of the worst decisions in Montana's history, causing the destruction of the Montana Power Company, loss of pensions, crashed stocks, and sale of the utility assets to out of state corporations that immediately raised electricity prices from the lowest in the region to the highest. And no, competition did not materialize since few utilities found serving Montana's small and widely spread population a profitable venture. Only a few years later, the Legislature decided to re-regulate the utility sector, but the damage was done and continues to impact citizens, businesses and institutions to this day. Given Montana's experience, it's hard to accept the current dismantling of the federal government by 'entrepreneurs' President Donald Trump and Elon Musk while spewing the same phony lines about improving efficiency and effectiveness and eliminating 'waste and abuse.' Instead, we get a MAGA fever dream where long-standing institutions and agencies are crippled or gutted entirely. Now, we're left wondering if any of the functions of the federal government will be operable after the chainsaw massacre by the 'department' of government efficiency is done shutting then re-opening, firing then rehiring, stopping then restarting, in one of the clumsiest and amateurish executive branch abuses of power ever seen. They say 'the once burnt child fears the fire.' Montanans still carry the scars from being burned by the enormous policy mistakes of the 90s. It would behoove our all-Republican congressional delegation to put down their pom-poms, knock off the vacuous cheerleading, and start safeguarding the state and nation from repeating the foolish and costly mistakes of delusional 'entrepreneurial' executive actions that burned Montanans in the past.
