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Trump Lays Groundwork for Federal Government Reorganization

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Tovarisc

Member
President Donald Trump is issuing a presidential memorandum that will call for a rethinking of the entire structure of the federal government, a move that could eventually lead to a downsizing of the overall workforce and changes to the basic functions and responsibilities of many agencies.

The order, which will go into effect Thursday, also will lift a blanket federal hiring freeze that has been in place since Trump's first day in office almost three months ago and replace it with hiring targets in line with the spending priorities the administration laid out in March, said Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The move is a part of Trump's campaign pledge to "drain the swamp" and get rid of what the administration views as inefficiencies in the federal government, Mulvaney said. It comes as the White House also is trying to curb the size of many government agencies through a proposed budget that calls for historically deep spending cuts to everything from medical research to clean-energy programs.

....

"We think at the end of the day this leads to a government that is dramatically more accountable, dramatically more efficient, and dramatically more effective, following through on the very promises the president made during the campaign and that he put into place on day one," Mulvaney said.

‘Blank Sheet'

He said the administration is starting with a "blank sheet of paper" as to how the government should operate and has set up a website to solicit ideas.

One solution may be to organize it by function, like putting all areas that deal with trade under one department, or to break up large departments into a number of smaller agencies. As an example, Mulvaney said there are 43 different workforce-training programs across at least 13 agencies -- without a single point person in charge of them -- that could be brought under one roof.

”We're now transitioning into the smarter, more surgical plans of running the government," Mulvaney said in an interview on MSNBC Wednesday morning.

The adjustments will then be included in the fiscal 2019 budget, which the administration will start putting together this September.

Changes to federal hiring, though, will begin immediately. Once the hiring freeze is lifted as of Thursday, the heads of federal agencies will have the discretion to start filling positions in line with the proposed budget the administration released last month. That budget, for fiscal 2018, would slash or eliminate many of the Great Society programs that Republicans have for decades tried to peel back while showering the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security with new resources.


Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/...work-for-widespread-government-reorganization

Edit: CNN article: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=233790844&postcount=27
 
4f96a2846541f246ea22ab66b0aa80014f7b9a9195575cbff7d7a7305452c0ba.jpg
 

theWB27

Member
You're already barely functioning with thousands of vacancies. So....as Republicans tend to do...lets double down on the fuckery that's already not working.

What's he word I'm looking for when you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results?
 
You're already barely functioning with thousands of vacancies. So....as Republicans tend to do...lets double down on the fuckery that's already not working.

What's he word I'm looking for when you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results?

republicans
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I'm surprised he hasn't pushed to move the national capital to Mar A Lago at this point.
 
Even if you think government needs to be completely rewritten, these are the last people you would EVER want in charge of it.

Fuck these clowns.
 

besada

Banned
yup, definitely trying to run government like a corporation

this will go badly

Literally the first thing I thought of was an outside consultant who came in to "fix" the business. Basically anyone who's ever had to deal with this knows they trade short term productivity gains for long term problems, generally by blowing up structures designed to take care of those very long term problems.
 
I'm wondering if Trump realizes government workers count towards the unemployment number?

The president is literally saying he wants to raise unemployment, significantly. He actually thinks this is a good idea? To run on higher unemployment?
 

Iolo

Member
He said the administration is starting with a "blank sheet of paper" as to how the government should operate and has set up a website to solicit ideas.

So like his health care bill and tax reform bill, it's utter vaporware. But the president does have one non-negotiable idea ...

One solution may be to organize it by function, like putting all areas that deal with trade under one department, or to break up large departments into a number of smaller agencies. As an example, Mulvaney said there are 43 different workforce-training programs across at least 13 agencies -- without a single point person in charge of them -- that could be brought under one roof.

... he's going to give it to Jared.
 

SummitAve

Banned
Let's just forget the historical context of why things became the way they are and start with a blank page so we can repeat all the same mistakes!
 

Jeffrey

Member
So... Is he just gonna expect the Federal government which is notorious about not changing stuff to just... Start over from scratch?

Does trump even have any political clout in DC anymore after the failed Healthcare?
 
Yeah I'm not so worried much anymore about Trump getting anything complicated done at this point. He'll just say he did it then go play more golf like the shitstain he is.
 

Tovarisc

Member
CNN got their article up on this.

------

White House: Federal hiring freeze over, 'surgical' cuts begin

The Trump administration, in an attempt to remake the size and scope of the federal government, will inform federal agencies Wednesday that President Donald Trump's federal ban on hiring is over. But the Office of Management and Budget expects agencies to begin implementing more "targeted" and "surgical" cuts to agency staffing.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday the guidance, which will go out to agencies Wednesday morning, is an attempt by the Trump administration to make good on the President's promise to "drain the swamp," a slogan that animated his 2016 campaign.

"This is really important to the President," Mulvaney said when asked why Trump will be able to do what past presidents have failed to accomplish. "I can tell you that this is a big part of draining the swamp. ... Really, what you are talking about doing is restructuring Washington, DC, and that is how you drain the swamp."

....

"What we are doing tomorrow is replacing the across-the-board hiring freeze that we put into place on day one in office and replacing it with a smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan," Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney said he could not provide detailed figures on job cuts, but added that it "probably goes without saying (that) we think we can run the government more efficiently than the previous administration can."

That means cuts.

The budget director, and former conservative member of Congress, said the reductions will reflect Trump's proposed budget, which saw dramatic proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, State Department and other non-defense agencies. Likewise, Mulvaney said the Defense Department and other defense-related agencies should expect job increases.

"The executive branch of government has never been rebuilt. It has grown organically" for decades, Mulvaney said. "The President of the United States has asked all of us in the executive branch to start from scratch."

The subtext in this order is clear: Trump wants the government to run more like a for-profit business. And that was outlined by Mulvaney on Tuesday, who said that he spoke with top CEOs to hone ideas on how to make cuts.

....

Mulvaney said federal employees shouldn't be depressed, but noted that some people "need to recognize that there are bigger issues at play."

"We are trying to figure out a way to make the government more responsive, more accountable," he said. "And that means taking care of the people who are doing a good job."


Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/donald-trump-budget-cuts-mick-mulvaney/index.html
 
A lot of agencies in the federal government do need some reorganization. There is regulatory authority overlap between the USDA and FDA for example. An agency split off from both of them to more effectively coordinate would be a good idea. I'm sure there are many more examples.
 

SteveWD40

Member
Yeah I'm not so worried much anymore about Trump getting anything complicated done at this point. He'll just say he did it then go play more golf like the shitstain he is.

Pretty much, he has no political capital at all and the current MO seems to be distracting people with military actions and making grand plans that will die on the vine.
 

Iolo

Member
A lot of agencies in the federal government do need some reorganization. There is regulatory authority overlap between the USDA and FDA for example. An agency split off from both of them to more effectively coordinate would be a good idea. I'm sure there are many more examples.

Another agency that should be under Jared's aegis
 
So... Is he just gonna expect the Federal government which is notorious about not changing stuff to just... Start over from scratch?

Does trump even have any political clout in DC anymore after the failed Healthcare?

No president in the last 50 years had even remotely enough clout to pull something like this off. Forget about Trump. Politicians are beholden to many, if not all of these organizations.
 
One solution may be to organize it by function, like putting all areas that deal with trade under one department, or to break up large departments into a number of smaller agencies.

Those are two completely different fucking solutions.

I'm beginning to have doubts that they know what they're doing.
/s
 

AndyD

aka andydumi
Makes sense!

This makes sense, but only to a certain extent.

And these are the kinds of things they should plan for, not solicit ideas. Mulvaney said he has not even reviewed past efforts at reorganization from previous presidents.
 
As someone who has brother and father who brag about how little they do in their administrative government jobs and glorify the inefficiencies of their departments, I don't blame people for wanting a more accountable federal workforce.

That said, I don't want people to lose their jobs and don't care about the waste. Nor do I think clean energy in particular is a good place to start.


This is literally a joke they pass around knowing 5 people could be replaced with one.
 
I'm wondering if Trump realizes government workers count towards the unemployment number?

The president is literally saying he wants to raise unemployment, significantly. He actually thinks this is a good idea? To run on higher unemployment?

I don't think trump thinks. Honestly, I wonder if he even realizes he is president most of the time.
 
I'm wondering if Trump realizes government workers count towards the unemployment number?

The president is literally saying he wants to raise unemployment, significantly. He actually thinks this is a good idea? To run on higher unemployment?

When unemployment rises he will simply call those needing jobs lazy former government employees. Ironically, his unemployed blue collar supporters will delight in this and vote him in for another term.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I love how they are trying to re-write "drain the swamp" into just firing run of the mill federal employees and not, you know, cleaning out corrupt self-serving politicos.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
The problem with this is while the government actually can use reorganization, the mentality of Trump and his gang is like the dictatorship of a banana republic. Their goal isn't to really make things better, but get rid of as many people as possible in order to shrink the pool of people who have a cut of the profits gained from raiding the country's wealth. And in turn, ensure greater loyalty from that smaller number of people, because they individually have more to lose by betraying the dictator.
 

FyreWulff

Member
"run the govt like a business"

reminder: new execs like to come in and torch all the old BUs and programs to install their own


also can safely bet those supposedly redundant workforce programs deal with different areas and stages of the workforce.

edit: plus these places run programs important to getting Republicans re-elected, Congress ain't gonna play
 

Laekon

Member
While I don't trust Trump or either party to be able to do this correctly it is needed at a certain level. I worked on importing goods into the US for years and so dealt with customs classification of goods for clearance. We were approached by another department that wanted to track the cost of goods imported and wanted us to submit the same information to them instead of getting it from the customs department. It was a total waste of time and effort as they would fly someone to our office to get information we had to pay a broker to submit to another department.
 
Concentrating on more than one agency at a time is a disaster. Too many codes and protections for them to do it across the board.
 

Dr.Acula

Banned
I'm wondering if Trump realizes government workers count towards the unemployment number?

The president is literally saying he wants to raise unemployment, significantly. He actually thinks this is a good idea? To run on higher unemployment?

I listened to Chris Hayes on the Ezra Klein podcast from April 4th, and one thing they talk about is how Trump is concerned about standing up for what he views as the common man against the elites. What does elite mean? It's not a billionaire New York real estate developer and reality TV star who is the POTUS, it's morphed into career civil servants making high five/low six figure jobs and living comfortably with reasonable benefit packages.

So when these people lose their jobs, it's okay, because they're "elites."
 

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
As someone who has brother and father who brag about how little they do in their administrative government jobs and glorify the inefficiencies of their departments, I don't blame people for wanting a more accountable federal workforce.

That said, I don't want people to lose their jobs and don't care about the waste. Nor do I think clean energy in particular is a good place to start.



This is literally a joke they pass around knowing 5 people could be replaced with one.

Yeah, there's a shitton of bloat in the government, but the way he's handling it seems to signal he's moving down a more traditional neoconservative type of spending plan.

Instead of looking into bloat in all areas of government equally, he's blinding cutting and boosting spending in areas based solely on partisan ideology. Throwing more money at the military will only lead to more waste in that sector with less oversight. Meanwhile, poor Americans suffer domestically because he decides to cut the tumor out via decapitation.
 
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