President-elect Donald Trump appears already to be working toward making good on his promise to cut the size of government. The incoming president has reportedly advised members of his team to begin compiling a plan to make significant department reductions across the federal government.
According to Trump administration insiders, various federal departments could see spending reductions of around 10 percent along with 20 percent reductions in staffing.
Trump has put together what his administration is calling “landing teams” to make recommendations for areas where the heaviest cuts are needed. The teams are, however, focusing the cuts only on areas of discretionary spending, leaving alone mandatory spending for things like Medicare and Social Security.
While Trump’s plans to cut spending from the outset of his administration are uncommon for an incoming president, it’s not believed that they will lead to a reduction in overall government spending.
Instead, the money freed up by the cuts will likely be used toward Trump’s plan to boost military spending, on infrastructure projects and possibly toward the construction of the wall he has promised to construct along the nation’s southern border.
Still, conservatives and small government advocates are cheering the news that the incoming administration is looking to give hordes of bureaucrats pink slips.
That’s because it signals a departure from the Obama administration’s proclivity for allowing federal agencies to act with little oversight, a governing style that led to massive increases in regulatory burdens over the past eight years.
The Trump administration could also make it easier for federal agencies to fire underperforming government workers moving forward.
Over the summer, Trump campaign officials began discussing the need for congressional legislation to make it easier to give government employees the axe.
Congressional Republicans like Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) have taken note.
“It’s nearly impossible to fire somebody,” Chaffetz said after Trump’s election. “When the overwhelming majority do a good job and the one bad apple is there viewing pornography, I want people to be held accountable.”