Cal Thomas: Department of Government Efficiency

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, November 21st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. President- elect Donald Trump has named two businessmen to lead a new department in hopes of reigning in government spending. WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says “it’s about time.”

CAL THOMAS: Fifty years ago when Texan Ron Paul—father of Sen. Rand Paul—was running for Congress, a billboard featured an obese Uncle Sam with the caption: “let's put big government on a diet.”

Since then, the federal government has grown even more obese. To seriously address the problem, President-elect Trump has designated Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head a Department of Government Efficiency—or DOGE.

The two will be up against a bureaucracy that has a history of protecting itself from reformers. As Ronald Reagan once said:

REAGAN: No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

The battle against government waste can be won if Musk and Ramaswamy keep the public informed about each proposed reduction. Ridicule is one tool they might use…starting with the annual Pig Book published by Citizens Against Government Waste. It lists pork barrel spending and earmarks—something Republicans were once against. The abuses are shocking and ripe for lambasting.

Here's just one of scores of examples: more than $120 million dollars for 150 earmarks funding the FEMA Emergency Operations Center Grant Program. That’s an 84 percent increase from 2023.

This was before we learned that at least one FEMA employee—who has since been fired—instructed people helping victims of recent hurricanes not to assist anyone with Trump yard signs.

The spending watchdog group reports that since 2008, legislators have added more than 2,000 earmarks to this program. Earmarks are special interest projects that, in effect, buy the support of legislators who might otherwise question the spending increases. According to the report, the earmarks cost taxpayers nearly $2 billion additional dollars.

The group goes on to say that although earmarks for emergency operations centers are often among the most numerous in the appropriations bills, the program could be eliminated in favor of competitive or merit-based awards…allowing states to prioritize critical needs in each area. DOGE should favor eliminating these earmarks.

While they’re at it, they should also scuttle the Department of Education, which educates no one. If it did, test scores and achievement levels would be far higher than the deplorable levels that show too many high school graduates are not proficient in reading and math.

Reagan tried to eliminate the Department of Education, but was opposed by Congress. With a government unified under Republican control, DOGE could have an easier time if Congress will put aside self-interest.

DOGE should also call for a percentage of across-the-board spending cuts. Will the Department of Labor really suffer if it is forced to cut a minimum of its costs by 15 percent?

Every government agency or program has a charter or legislative authority that created it. People who run the cabinet departments and agencies should be brought before Congress and show evidence of results and how they are living up to the stated purposes. If their work can be done at less cost and more efficiently by the private sector, they should be eliminated. That's the pattern most businesses follow, and it should be the pattern for government.

When it comes to health, according to the Global Obesity Observatory, the United States ranks 10th in the world among the most obese nations. If the Department of Health’s current programs do nothing to measurably improve the wellbeing of our nation…it’s time to cut spending there, as well, not increase it.

We can put big government on a diet if we have the will. Our nation is first in debt at $36 trillion and counting. If we don't make a change, we only have to look at history to see what has happened to other nations that spent themselves into oblivion.

I’m Cal Thomas.

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