January 29, 2025

How to Cut the Federal Leviathan

President Trump aims to limit spending and invited federal employees to leave.

“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size,” said Ronald Reagan in his famous “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964. “So, governments’ programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”

As with so many things, Reagan was right.

President Donald Trump is working to change Reagan’s maxim, but it’s easier said than done. Hours after he issued an executive order freezing federal assistance spending, for example, a federal judge blocked it. Today, the administration rescinded Trump’s order. So, never mind!

We’ll see how this all plays out, but the White House noted that an eye-popping $3 trillion was spent on federal assistance in 2024.

The Constitution’s author, James Madison, told the House of Representatives in 1794, “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.”

Now, “charity” is nearly half the budget, and arguably more, depending on how you define the word. By the way, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps are all exempt from Trump’s order.

Here’s how PBS, which receives federal funding that ought to be cut, reported on Trump’s order before the court ruling: “The White House is pausing federal grants and loans starting Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending, causing confusion and panic among organizations that rely on Washington for their financial lifeline.”

Yeah, I bet PBS accountants were confused and panicked.

Democrats pounced, too. “In an instant,” fumed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “Donald Trump has shut off billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars that directly support states, cities, towns, schools, hospitals, small businesses, and most of all, families.” He also called not spending money “a heist done on a national scale.” Democrat logic is truly dizzying.

Added Washington Senator Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, “The scope of this illegal action is unprecedented and could have devastating consequences across the country. For real people, we could see a screeching halt to resources for child care, cancer research, housing, police officers, opioid addiction treatment, rebuilding roads and bridges, and even disaster relief efforts.”

Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seemed to agree, temporarily suspending Trump’s temporary freeze.

Opponents of Trump’s move correctly note that Congress has the constitutional power of the purse — the authority to allocate spending. They argue that Trump does not have the power to override Congress. But what if the spending is unconstitutional? No one seems to care about that.

Why? Because Schumer and Murray are at least right that a large portion of the American economy depends on federal expenditures. The practically all-encompassing machinery of government is what makes it so blasted difficult to cut anythingsomebody, somewhere relies on that money and would be “devastated” by its removal.

That’s going to make the job of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) nigh impossible.

Still, Trump wasn’t done attempting cuts. On Tuesday, he offered a buyout of roughly eight months of salary to approximately two million federal employees if they resign by February 6. There are more than three million federal employees, and the White House says it expects 10% of the two million receiving the offer of “deferred resignation” to take it.

The Office of Personnel Management said employees who stay would soon be subject to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and must return to the office five days a week instead of working remotely. “We’re five years past COVID, and just 6% of federal employees work full-time in office,” said one administration official. “That is unacceptable.” For whatever it’s worth, Joe Biden’s administration disputed that number.

American Federation of Government Employees union President Everett Kelley calls these moves evidence that “the Trump administration’s goal is to turn the federal government into a toxic environment where workers cannot stay even if they want to.”

Is that the world’s smallest violin I hear?

In all seriousness, sweeping measures often have unfortunate consequences. I don’t doubt that some good federal workers or some arguably worthy federal spending will be swept out with the rest. Yet federal outlays reached $6.8 trillion in FY2024, and the national debt is $36.4 trillion and counting. The time for carefully applying a scalpel to make minor cuts was decades ago. It’s time for a chainsaw.

Follow Nate Jackson on X/Twitter.

(Updated)

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