Earlier last week the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was lifting the hiring freeze it imposed on federal employees, but at the same time the article indicates that the Trump Administration is asking for federal agencies to submit plans for employee cuts and other restructuring moves that would fit into Trump’s budget proposal.
In reality, lifting the hiring freeze does no good if agencies are required to cut employees and reduce budgets. We have already indicated that Social Security’s operating budget is equal to what it was in 2010, so the agency’s budget has already been reduced for the last seven years.
We have seen other administrations attempt the same thing by claiming that they will reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy only to learn such measures are more difficult than once thought before they are in power. The truth of the matter is the federal government provides necessary services to the American people and a minimum budget is needed to continue to provide these services at a level the American people find acceptable.
Simplistic rhetoric from Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, who said “this is a big part of draining the swamp,” does nothing but try and make complex issues and funding necessities into something that is easy and quick to do.
The Trump Administration has continued down the path and belief that making government decisions is easy. Trump said Obamacare would be repealed and replaced and it that it would be easy, but Trump found out nothing is easy when you are on the inside looking out. The truth is the Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare and replace it and it is still the law of the land. Trump wants to increase the military budget by 10 percent by reducing spending in other agencies, but a reduction in the domestic programs Americans rely on could have disastrous consequences.
