DOGE Versus the Federal Leviathan
The new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is igniting widespread support for a long overdue assault on bloated and obsolete executive branch programs and agencies, in Washington, D.C.
Tesla Founder and CEO Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are applying advanced thinking and technology to eradicate unauthorized programs, "zombie" accounts," and reclaim unexpended funds.
Their use of artificial intelligence (AI) or enhanced intelligence should reveal patterns of waste, fraud, and abuse by mining years of Inspector General reports and fraud hotline complaints.
This "pattern analysis" will drive abolition, consolidation, and downsizing.
Finding the right court case and venue for overturning the unconstitutional Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (Public law 93-344) will be integral to reining in wanton spending.
DOGE can build a national movement, and internal government network, to fundamentally change the federal government’s mindset and culture for decades to come.
DOGE is posed to have more impact on America’s domestic policy than any other initiative since the 1960s Great Society.
A National Movement
DOGE is the framework. “War on Waste” (WOW) could be their battle cry.
Everyone has stories of federal government waste, fraud, and abuse (WFA). Finding federal waste is like "hunting cows."
It's everywhere and obvious.
DOGE could ask Americans to "blow the whistle" on WFA. An online form would identify the program, WFA evidence, and estimated cost.
Everyone who submits a credible WFA case would earn a digital "Waste Warrior" (WW) badge to proudly display.
Best WFA submissions, and the WW heroes who found them, could be featured each month, maybe on the DOGE podcast. DOGE, WOW, WW, WFA merchandise could become cultural icons.
Grassroots WOW clubs and online communities could further embolden Americans to expose waste nationwide. These could partner with existing government reform groups like Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and Open the Books.
The Insiders
DOGE needs to work through allies within the Executive Branch to find additional WFA and to implement tangible and lasting change.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should be the central command center for implementing DOGE recommendations.
The appointment of Russell Vought is a terrific first step. He will need to build a team within OMB to be fully effective.
Trump should reconstitute Ronald Reagan’s "Cabinet Council on Management and Administration" (CCMA) to drive DOGE reforms through the executive branch.
Reagan’s lega adviser, Ed Meese, used the CCMA to hold agencies accountable for meeting domestic policy goals, cutting costs, and reducing personnel.
Each Cabinet Department and major agency had a full-time CCMA liaison to make sure these goals were met.
Insider whistleblowers are increasingly stepping forward. They need to become the network to aid DOGE and identify additional WWs throughout the Executive Branch.
Another pro-DOGE network are career employees who have received graduate credits, degrees, and certificates from conservative academic institutions.
The Institute of World Politics (IWP), founded in 1990 by Reagan National Security officials, has seeded the defense and intelligence agencies with their graduates, all ready to make America strong again. Since 2010, Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C. campus has offered degrees in government to early and mid-career government employees.
Hillsdale College has been a bulwark of constitutional conservatism since 1844.
Trump’s non-career appointees, DOGE advisors, CCMA liaisons, and career allies need to make sure they quickly achieve full knowledge of executive branch operations. The entrenched bureaucracy will fight reform with all resources at their disposal, which are substantial.
One proven method is "management by walking around."
It's amazing what can be exposed, and stopped, using this basic approach. Early in the Reagan Administration, a political appointee visited ACTION’s loading dock.
They discovered crates of the book "Rules for Radicals" by leftist Saul Alinsky being readied for distribution to community organizations across the nation.
The shipment was stopped and the books either returned to the publisher or destroyed.
In another instance, a government warehouse manager asserted he needed to buy twelve additional forklifts to meet the tighter response time for shipping supplies.
A political appointee did a surprise inspection finding twenty inactive forklifts because there were not enough certified operators. The manager was immediately fired.
Insiders can review contracts. Outsiders must file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that will be slow walked by the bureaucracy.
Most federal contracts are poorly written and ineptly managed.
This is intentional, as kickbacks and crony capitalism rule the day.
In one bizarre case, the General Services Administration (GSA) signed a multi-million contract to renovate the eighth-floor utility rooms at their headquarters.
An audit revealed the building only had seven floors.
The contracting officer certified the fictious work was done, money was paid and split with the contractor.
The contracting officer and contractor went to jail.
Whether we love a program or hate it, we want every penny spent honestly, ethically, and effectively.
DOGE could be the bi-partisan crusade that unites all Americans.
Scot Faulkner is the best-selling author of "Naked Emperors: The Failure of the Republican Revolution." He also served as the first chief administrative officer of the U.S. House, and was director of personnel for the Reagan campaign and went on to serve in the presidential transition team and on the White House staff. During the Reagan administration, he held executive positions at the FAA, the GSA, and the Peace Corps. Read Scot Faulker's reports — More Here.