Budget Cuts vs Efficiency
Sunday 22 December 2024
As I listen to Elon and Vivek, I’m concerned the duo may be conflating budget cuts with efficiency. While there is some overlap, cuts do not necessarily equate to efficiency. In fact, if not handled properly, budget cuts can backfire and end up costing taxpayers more.
It’s easy to imagine a few key people being swept out the door, only to discover a month later that we need to pay a contractor ten times more to do their work. It’s the moment when contractors salivate and rake in millions.
Elon proposes eliminating redundan
cy and improving operational efficiency by consolidating over 400 federal
agencies into fewer than 100. And Vivek wants to "delete" some agencies and reduce inefficiencies by slashing the government’s headcount by 75%. I agree with these objectives and believe they’re achievable. However, they’re far less likely to succeed if civil servants are terminated without a transition plan. “You’re fired” may have worked in reality TV and thrilled audiences, but when it comes to building a better nation, shaming fellow Americans is destructive, counterproductive, and unethical.
A transition serves as a filter for identifying the best people in government. This includes those capable of managing tomorrow’s leaner federal government. But it could also be a means for building a team of smart accountants incentivized to recover some of the $247 billion lost to error and fraud in 2022, as reported by the GAO.
A transition plan also helps civil servants find their next job outside government. This is important as mass terminations not only create personal hardships but also put the economy at risk. Transitioning, on the other hand, removes the stigma of a job loss and mitigates the economic downturn that could accompany the termination of over a million people.
We should imagine the federal government as a castle entangled in vines. We can tear down the vines and risk toppling the castle, or we can cut the vines meticulously – while restoring the castle to its original splendor.
