Tag: DOGE

The Goodness of DOGE Manpower Cuts

Defense Secretary Hegseth has just announced the elimination of 20% of the military’s four-star generals and admirals plus deep cuts in other senior military officer ranks. While many Americans decry what they call the gutting of our military leadership, I joyfully celebrate the move. At the peak of my 24-year Air Force career, I would have likely been a target of such cuts. Nevertheless, the action is long overdue. Let’s look into the bloated top leadership of the Department of Defense and other government bureaucracies that is finally being pared down.

There are 38 four-star officers in the active duty military. So, a 20% cut affecting only seven or eight officers is not a lot of compensation savings, but it has the news media spun up. The SECDEF has further directed the trimming of all other general and admiral positions by 10% and has extended similar cuts to the National Guard. All these reductions are only a tiny fraction of the other massive DOGE cuts in the federal government. But, if the positions are not necessary, they simply need to be gone. The military is not exempt.

World War II, the biggest military operation in U.S. history, had 12 million troops engaged at its most intense period with only 17 four- and five-star generals and admirals at the top. Today, we have just over two million in the military with 38 four-stars at the top–more than double the generals overseeing one-sixth of the combatants.

Indulge me in a personal example of military over-manning. Many of the senior officer jobs in the military involve serving as a superior’s backup. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has a vice chairman. The chiefs of staff for all branches of the military have vice chiefs of staff. Just below the star ranks are colonels and Navy and Coast Guard captains who command Army brigades, Navy ships, Air Force wings, Marine regiments, and Coast Guard vessels. All of these have second-in-command officers of the same rank with various titles. I was an Air Force vice wing commander rising later to wing commander who had a vice wing commander. My honest assessment is that the vice wing commander positions throughout the Air Force (and there are many) are not necessary. Across the military, in my opinion, positions labeled deputy, vice, assistant, and executive are seldom necessary. Their duties could be assumed by the commanders or other subordinates. Eliminating these backup military officer positions alone would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year without any degradation in military capability. Numerous other non-essential positions that have little to do with combat readiness should disappear.

Our current national unemployment rate is 4.2%. That is a perfect rate. A healthy unemployment rate is 4% to 6%. Some unemployment is necessary to accommodate new entries and career changes. It is interesting that all the DOGE manpower cuts are having little effect on overall employment. Government workers must be finding employment where there is legitimate need. The federal government presently employees over three million civilian people, and there are over two million military personnel. I’m sure DOGE still has lots of fat to trim from over five million people. A lot of inefficiency still has to be found to gain ground in the arduous process of stopping the ever-growing $37 trillion dollar national debt.

The deep cuts into our inflated federal government bureaucracy by the DOGE teams are necessary if we are to survive as a nation. Positions similar to the Pentagon’s manpower reductions are being slashed in all federal government departments and agencies where excess workforce numbers are found. The Chicken Little cry from the Democrats and even some Republicans that critical services are being cut and people are going to die is shameful. No one is terminating employees essential to life and productivity. President Trump through his cabinet secretaries and DOGE is just chipping away the excess in government that has caused skyrocketing debt and absurd tax levels for decades. I applaud President Trump, Secretary Hegspeth, and all other cabinet secretaries who are finding the courage to do the right thing for Americans that their predecessors failed to do. Let us embrace the axing of the unfruitful branches of the tree, even though it may carry with it some temporary pain and chaos.

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Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) What Is It and How Does It Work?

Arguably the biggest kerfuffle in America today is over President Trump’s determination to cut the fraud, waste, and abuse out of the federal government. His establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, is moving at rocket speed in attacking spending that is wasting taxpayer dollars. Let’s take a look at how this mysterious mechanism works and why the Democrats are so radically opposed to it.

On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order creating DOGE to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” He announced it would be headed by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy later resigned to run for governor of Ohio. Trump said the agency would help “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies. Musk, in his typical flamboyant style, claimed he would cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. The current federal budget is $6.8 trillion. So, can DOGE really expect to cut the budget by almost 30%? Probably not, but I am very pleased to see the Administration launch a “shock and awe” attack on every agency in Washington that spends my money.

So, how does DOGE work? Musk, in addition to being a genius, is a phenomenal organizer for problem solving. He has created several teams made up of the smartest people in the country. Each team is small, usually comprising a team leader, an engineer, a human resources specialist, and an attorney. The teams are going into federal government department offices looking for how employees are structured, how technology is being used, how funds are being spent, and compliance with the president’s strategy. There will eventually be one DOGE team for each government department and agency. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has a subcommittee called the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (also DOGE) which takes recommendations from Musk and his staff and considers them for legislative action as necessary. Musk and DOGE have no authority to change or terminate anything, although the Dems are screaming like Chicken Little that the teams are defunding and firing the federal government into ruins.

All Trump has assigned DOGE to do is to look deeply into all aspects of government and shine a light on frivilous spending, bloated manpower, and any other hinderances to efficiency. They are just to illuminate the darkness. With the obvious corruption and sluggishness in Washington, Musk would find his job easy and rewarding if it weren’t for the firewalls the bureaucracies have built to protect their turf. From security over-classification to privacy laws to employment safeguards, the DOGE teams are being pushed back at every turn. Plus, liberal federal judges are throwing the penalty flag at almost every move toward doing more with less.

Democrats and career government officials (essentially redundant terms) make up most of the Washington establishment, or “swamp.” Altough many of them are dedicated servants of the people, many serve themselves by orchestrating schemes of exchanges of favors, kickbacks, and political advantages. Some are simply incompetent. Meticulous scrutiny of their jobs would not bode well for their future. So, they fight DOGE like a wild predator backed into a corner.

Liberals are decrying that Musk is an unelected person with no authority or accountability who is acting counter to the Constitution in his inspection of government operations. Actually, his constitutional authority lies in being rightly appointed by the elected president who has a mandate from the voters to do his assigned duties. The bureaucrats who are giving him the most flack are also unelected.

What President Trump is doing through Elon Musk and DOGE is exhilerating to me and most other conservatives. I have never seen such a war on big government, overspending, and Washington corruption in my lifetime. It is long overdue. I can accept an occasional misstep or constitutional infringement in this effort. That is to be expected with this level of tactical assault on colossal mismanagement. Any war has some setbacks. But as long as it is one step back and 100 steps forward, we are assured of victory. So, stand up a cheer, America! The tax payments we file this year will perhaps be less wasted than ever before.

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