In a deeply satisfying headline, CNN is reporting a widespread "Feeling of Dread" among the millions-strong Deep State -- er, federal bureaucracy -- afraid that Donald Trump will fire them.
I’ve worked in corporations and so has my husband. We’ve both been through multiple rounds of layoffs over the years. The idea that the federal government should never have to review their various departments for efficiencies is absurd. The pearl clutching is wasted on me, I’ll be happy to see a large chunk of the useless class go away and find private sector jobs.
Sorry, I know federal employees who have got caught up in a Reduction in Force (RIF), which is effectively a layoff. In some cases it affected thousands, especially during the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
Don’t forget about all the government contractors. Not the just ones who make weapons systems and aircraft, but those thousands of non-government employees who work for the various government agencies under contract. The deep state runs deep.
I worked for one of those contractor companies at one of the NIH institutes. Those companies have enormous levels of bloat: layers upon layers of project managers and "ancillary" staff.
I've worked in academia, there at NIH, and corporate. The feds were the most slack and pampered, even compared to academia. Roll in around 9 or 10, take a 2 hour subsidized lunch, roll out at 430.
I sympathize with those who may lose jobs, but the situation between D.C. and much of the country is eerily similar to The Hunger Games. They, as a group, simply consume too much of what we as a country produce.
The Federal Government In Washington that has created all these departments,
Is itself,illegal!. Unconstitutionally acting as a giant central government in Washington!
The Federal Government has a limited Constitutional Mandate of assorted powers that are not appropriate for any individual state. That mandate does not include powers that duplicate & conflict with
Legal state powers. The original signers of the Constitution,back over 230 years ago, to join the Federal Republic of Sovereign States would have never signed to be subject to a Central Government like London
The Constitution is meaningless now. For the GOP to suddenly trot out a section which pleases them is wrong and immoral. Either adhere to all or it or don't pretend it matters.
There's nothing wrong with the Constitution, but as more than one Founding Father said, it only works with a moral, Christian citizenry. That is long gone and all our politicians, including our President Elect, reflect that total loss.
Maybe, we can finally get rid of the absurd Ad Council, PBS, NPR, school lunch program boondoggle (let local schools and parents feed their children again), and entire Departments and Agencies that are not roles of the federal government under our Constitution: Education, Energy (and EPA), Regulatory commissions, USDA, Commerce, Housing and Urban development, FTC, most of Interior, Fish & Wildlife, BLM, huge swaths in the IRS and DOS (do we really need an office of global women's issues?), endless commissions and advisory boards and committees (is gaming, migratory bird conservation, marine mammal commissions and a textile committee a role of the Feds?), NEA and Arts agencies (seriously, we do not need Federal taxpayer money to pay for satanic statues in the name of art), NEH, NSF and NASA (corrupted by climate change political agendas), Labor, Federal Reserve, Transportation, the entire agency called Volunteerism, everything with "foundation" at the end of it; clean up massive corruption and unsound actions in USAID, ATSDR, AHRQ, ACE,... good grief, we could eliminate most of the Federal government and return things to the people, states and local communities. The largest department in the federal government is HHS --will RFK,Jr, though, be able to actually apply sound science in slashing departments and cutting food and federal health regulations, return the FDA to objective sound science, get feds out of healthcare and insurance industry ...or will it be just another flavor of government regulations?
Long past time for these bloated parasitical entities to.
get a cleansing dose of reality.
Good for Elon - and while we're at it, go Gaetz! His confirmation hearing will bring out the appalling extortion attempted against his family by a certain three letter government 'intelligence' agency.
This is nothing but Honeymoon talk. Once in, a lot of this will fall by the wayside. It is red meat for the faithful. I expect this as much as ending the endless wars and revealing the JFK files last time. Campaign promises are designed to be broken.
Great article, Peter. The federal employees "feeling of dread" is a feeling of relief for the enslaved taxpayer. Not only are fed workers overpaid, but they get overly generous benefits. Something is wrong when the workers get paid more than their bosses. Many of these lazy, cheaters are still "working" from home, months after the rapid spread of COVID. Most of these people, who are supposed to remain politically neutral, are left wingers who contribute heavily to the Demonrat Party. How many will receive their walking papers remains to be seen-- the more the merrier. When the bulk of new jobs added to the national workforce are government employees, something is drastically wrong. I will not shed any tears for those who lose their cushy jobs, especially in the IRA, Justice, CIA, FBI, CDC, FDA, Education. Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out. PS: Wasn't Jackson the President who ended the Central Bank?
One way may be to Disperse these agencies out of the Washington region into other sections of the country.Those that don't want to relocate get retired!
A secondary benefit would be making it hard for the Lobbyists
It strikes me that there are two things Mush and Ramaswamy can do right away that will help reduce the bloat, return to office 5 days/week or lose your job and then relocate several departments out of Washington. HUD can go to Biloxi Mississippi, Education to Fayetteville, Arkansas, HHS to Bozeman, Montana, and let's see how many of the current employees want to follow, especially to bring their families there and work 5 days per week in the office. I don't think they will need to fire that many, lots will leave of their own volition.
arguably, Treasury, State, Defense and Justice are the only cabinet posts that ought to be in DC
You still believe in the 1960s style of management. If I cannot see you, you are not working. This is silliness. Certainly there are work projects to be completed and one can judge work by these. This idea you HAVE to be in the office is dead and buried. Seriously, you want qualified candidates to go to Biloxi Mississippi? In other words, you want Agency collapse. You know you won't find a handful of qualified employees to replace them in Biloxi. And why are you okay with spending all that money to move agencies all over? Is that saving any money? Hardly.
While I don't disagree with your statement that firing a few will make the rest fall in line, the problem with stopping there is that THOSE who remain will re-emerge with the next Demo-Socialist President. Trump needs to eliminate the top 5 levels in each Agency/Administration (or at least most of them) and allow merit to fill the holes.
So we are going back to the Spoils System of Andrew Jackson. Be loyal to me or I will fire you. If you want the best and brightest, you won't get them under the Spoils System. The GOP would like to replace all government employees with contractor employees because then they can claim the federal workforce is smaller, even though it isn't, but the contractors can contribute to campaign funds and we all know this is foremost in politicians' minds. Let me know when Trump manages to accomplish two other things Andrew Jackson did: 1) Paid off the National Debt and 2) Shut down the Fed of his time, the National Bank.
Let a Social Security check be late or Medicare go unpaid and we'll see how all this works out.
I almost laughed out loud when you trotted out the Constitution. As if either political party ever follows or cares about it at all. Congressman Thomas Massie is the only one in all of Congress who knows and follows the Constitution. The rest simply look the other way and vote however they feel like it or their party demands. Let me know when Trump kills the CIA, NSA, and FBI and kills the misnamed Patriot Act or other similarly unconstitutional spying on American citizens. But we know none of this will happen.
There are unsustainable and indefensible levels of bloat in government staffing. But random purging would be wasteful. At least try to preserve some who are productive. Pareto would put that number generously at 20% peak performers. If there can be some performance metrics so that actual merit can be assessed, that would be a start.
That’s all well and good, but how will a $2 million cut in government spending affect the overall economy? Do you think the private sector will make it up?
Fact Sheet: How Do I Know If I Am Working On A Federal Contract Under Which I Am Entitled To Accrue And Use Paid Sick Leave? - U.S. Department Of Labor - Wage And Hour Division (WHD)
Approximately 22% of the American workforce is employed by companies that do business with the federal government. This equals 37,000,000. How many more are contractors for state and local governments?
I’ve worked in corporations and so has my husband. We’ve both been through multiple rounds of layoffs over the years. The idea that the federal government should never have to review their various departments for efficiencies is absurd. The pearl clutching is wasted on me, I’ll be happy to see a large chunk of the useless class go away and find private sector jobs.
Valerie, you are sooooooo right!
Sorry, I know federal employees who have got caught up in a Reduction in Force (RIF), which is effectively a layoff. In some cases it affected thousands, especially during the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
Don’t forget about all the government contractors. Not the just ones who make weapons systems and aircraft, but those thousands of non-government employees who work for the various government agencies under contract. The deep state runs deep.
I worked for one of those contractor companies at one of the NIH institutes. Those companies have enormous levels of bloat: layers upon layers of project managers and "ancillary" staff.
I've worked in academia, there at NIH, and corporate. The feds were the most slack and pampered, even compared to academia. Roll in around 9 or 10, take a 2 hour subsidized lunch, roll out at 430.
I sympathize with those who may lose jobs, but the situation between D.C. and much of the country is eerily similar to The Hunger Games. They, as a group, simply consume too much of what we as a country produce.
Let me know when Ukraine and Israel funding end.
To compound the craziness here,Let me Say.
The Federal Government In Washington that has created all these departments,
Is itself,illegal!. Unconstitutionally acting as a giant central government in Washington!
The Federal Government has a limited Constitutional Mandate of assorted powers that are not appropriate for any individual state. That mandate does not include powers that duplicate & conflict with
Legal state powers. The original signers of the Constitution,back over 230 years ago, to join the Federal Republic of Sovereign States would have never signed to be subject to a Central Government like London
The Constitution is meaningless now. For the GOP to suddenly trot out a section which pleases them is wrong and immoral. Either adhere to all or it or don't pretend it matters.
There's nothing wrong with the Constitution, but as more than one Founding Father said, it only works with a moral, Christian citizenry. That is long gone and all our politicians, including our President Elect, reflect that total loss.
Improving the 3rd rate Public Schools by Adding civics & critical thinking to the curriculum must go along with the changes back to the constitution!
Maybe, we can finally get rid of the absurd Ad Council, PBS, NPR, school lunch program boondoggle (let local schools and parents feed their children again), and entire Departments and Agencies that are not roles of the federal government under our Constitution: Education, Energy (and EPA), Regulatory commissions, USDA, Commerce, Housing and Urban development, FTC, most of Interior, Fish & Wildlife, BLM, huge swaths in the IRS and DOS (do we really need an office of global women's issues?), endless commissions and advisory boards and committees (is gaming, migratory bird conservation, marine mammal commissions and a textile committee a role of the Feds?), NEA and Arts agencies (seriously, we do not need Federal taxpayer money to pay for satanic statues in the name of art), NEH, NSF and NASA (corrupted by climate change political agendas), Labor, Federal Reserve, Transportation, the entire agency called Volunteerism, everything with "foundation" at the end of it; clean up massive corruption and unsound actions in USAID, ATSDR, AHRQ, ACE,... good grief, we could eliminate most of the Federal government and return things to the people, states and local communities. The largest department in the federal government is HHS --will RFK,Jr, though, be able to actually apply sound science in slashing departments and cutting food and federal health regulations, return the FDA to objective sound science, get feds out of healthcare and insurance industry ...or will it be just another flavor of government regulations?
We can only hope and pray.
Delicious isn't it? New treats every day!!
Long past time for these bloated parasitical entities to.
get a cleansing dose of reality.
Good for Elon - and while we're at it, go Gaetz! His confirmation hearing will bring out the appalling extortion attempted against his family by a certain three letter government 'intelligence' agency.
Great post, thank you.
This is nothing but Honeymoon talk. Once in, a lot of this will fall by the wayside. It is red meat for the faithful. I expect this as much as ending the endless wars and revealing the JFK files last time. Campaign promises are designed to be broken.
Great article, Peter. The federal employees "feeling of dread" is a feeling of relief for the enslaved taxpayer. Not only are fed workers overpaid, but they get overly generous benefits. Something is wrong when the workers get paid more than their bosses. Many of these lazy, cheaters are still "working" from home, months after the rapid spread of COVID. Most of these people, who are supposed to remain politically neutral, are left wingers who contribute heavily to the Demonrat Party. How many will receive their walking papers remains to be seen-- the more the merrier. When the bulk of new jobs added to the national workforce are government employees, something is drastically wrong. I will not shed any tears for those who lose their cushy jobs, especially in the IRA, Justice, CIA, FBI, CDC, FDA, Education. Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out. PS: Wasn't Jackson the President who ended the Central Bank?
One way may be to Disperse these agencies out of the Washington region into other sections of the country.Those that don't want to relocate get retired!
A secondary benefit would be making it hard for the Lobbyists
It strikes me that there are two things Mush and Ramaswamy can do right away that will help reduce the bloat, return to office 5 days/week or lose your job and then relocate several departments out of Washington. HUD can go to Biloxi Mississippi, Education to Fayetteville, Arkansas, HHS to Bozeman, Montana, and let's see how many of the current employees want to follow, especially to bring their families there and work 5 days per week in the office. I don't think they will need to fire that many, lots will leave of their own volition.
arguably, Treasury, State, Defense and Justice are the only cabinet posts that ought to be in DC
You still believe in the 1960s style of management. If I cannot see you, you are not working. This is silliness. Certainly there are work projects to be completed and one can judge work by these. This idea you HAVE to be in the office is dead and buried. Seriously, you want qualified candidates to go to Biloxi Mississippi? In other words, you want Agency collapse. You know you won't find a handful of qualified employees to replace them in Biloxi. And why are you okay with spending all that money to move agencies all over? Is that saving any money? Hardly.
While I don't disagree with your statement that firing a few will make the rest fall in line, the problem with stopping there is that THOSE who remain will re-emerge with the next Demo-Socialist President. Trump needs to eliminate the top 5 levels in each Agency/Administration (or at least most of them) and allow merit to fill the holes.
I expect they will go on strike, and sabotage everything.
Fire 1/3 first volentarily with decent package, then repeat with 1/2 og the first package.
Mac D is hiring...))
So we are going back to the Spoils System of Andrew Jackson. Be loyal to me or I will fire you. If you want the best and brightest, you won't get them under the Spoils System. The GOP would like to replace all government employees with contractor employees because then they can claim the federal workforce is smaller, even though it isn't, but the contractors can contribute to campaign funds and we all know this is foremost in politicians' minds. Let me know when Trump manages to accomplish two other things Andrew Jackson did: 1) Paid off the National Debt and 2) Shut down the Fed of his time, the National Bank.
Let a Social Security check be late or Medicare go unpaid and we'll see how all this works out.
I almost laughed out loud when you trotted out the Constitution. As if either political party ever follows or cares about it at all. Congressman Thomas Massie is the only one in all of Congress who knows and follows the Constitution. The rest simply look the other way and vote however they feel like it or their party demands. Let me know when Trump kills the CIA, NSA, and FBI and kills the misnamed Patriot Act or other similarly unconstitutional spying on American citizens. But we know none of this will happen.
There are unsustainable and indefensible levels of bloat in government staffing. But random purging would be wasteful. At least try to preserve some who are productive. Pareto would put that number generously at 20% peak performers. If there can be some performance metrics so that actual merit can be assessed, that would be a start.
Looks like soon-to-be President Trump admires Jackson.
Could anyone recommend a really good book on President Jackson (non-PC) for some informative fireside reading during the Christmas break?
That’s all well and good, but how will a $2 million cut in government spending affect the overall economy? Do you think the private sector will make it up?
Total Number Of Government Employees In The United States From 1982 To 2022
In 2022, there were 22,100,000 Federal and State employees.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/204535/number-of-governmental-employees-in-the-us
Fact Sheet: How Do I Know If I Am Working On A Federal Contract Under Which I Am Entitled To Accrue And Use Paid Sick Leave? - U.S. Department Of Labor - Wage And Hour Division (WHD)
Approximately 22% of the American workforce is employed by companies that do business with the federal government. This equals 37,000,000. How many more are contractors for state and local governments?
https://www.dol.gov/whd/govcontracts/eo13706/HowDoIKnow.htm
Throwing state employees in the number muddies that number.