“Get rid of the waste. Keep something close to a flat budget. Don’t cut into the bone,†Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., said of the Department of Government Efficiency. “It is impossible to not mow past the fence in some areas ... you’re going to have to adjust.â€
I did not support some of Justice’s moves as governor, but I am in full agreement with Sen. Justice regarding the fact that DOGE has just gone too far, too fast. Most federal agencies are needed, and their employees are mostly competent. They must be judged individually. But dodging these hard choices is what DOGE and the Trump administration are all about.
DOGE has clearly failed us, and, in West Virginia, there has begun to be a clear negative reaction. Elon Musk sees it, stating, “West Virginia is a pretty interesting case. The lawmakers there say they want to make America great again, but we’re just not really feeling the Trump love.â€
My background is unique, several corporate positions involved cost reduction, including working with West Virginia hospital systems. That provides me with a clear basis for evaluating the effectiveness of DOGE.
Decades ago, as a Republican, I was elected chairman of a rural southern-county commission, due in large part to my pledge to reduce tax increases, averaging over 10% annually. We brought the rate of increase down to 1% annually.
My background as a corporate “efficiency expert†and a government budgeting analyst was one reason I was able to accomplish this goal. I worked my way through undergraduate school, employed by a large Atlanta bank, establishing productivity guidelines for behind-the-scenes positions. Employees not meeting production standards were terminated. After graduation, I worked as a productivity consultant for private industries throughout the South.
Later, I was a budget analyst with the Georgia Department of Human Resources. I applied these same analytical techniques to recommend cuts and reallocations to mental and physical health budgets based on cost-effectiveness of the programs. However, I never recommended wholesale slashing of programs with no regard to the people receiving the benefit of the programs just to reduce government expenditures.
Which brings me to DOGE and the Trump administration. They did not measure productivity within each agency and by each employee. The administration took the easy way out, replacing anyone who was in office under President Joe Biden and cutting staff.
For example, well-qualified Christopher Wray was appointed head of the FBI by Trump in his first term. But Wray was forced to resign because he worked for the FBI when it investigated Jan. 6, 2021. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., was the highly regarded chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was replaced, with no reasonable explanation. In both instances, Trump super-loyalists replacing them were less qualified.
DOGE is dominated by Musk, an unelected billionaire immigrant. DOGE follows his irrational, take no prisoners, slash and burn strategy. Under Musk, who runs tech companies, no analytical means were utilized to determine efficiency of governmental agencies. Obviously, he did not desire to use cost-effectiveness as his criteria. Instead, he wanted to wave a chainsaw, dominating the libs, while destroying agency morale.
“The breakneck campaign to eviscerate the U.S. Agency for International Development, hobble the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and give young tech engineers access to sensitive computer systems — among them the trillion-dollar payment systems for the entire government — has left many inside and outside the civil service stunned.†Lisa Rein wrote in The Washington Post.
Agency managers were not consulted or involved in the drastic mass terminations. To declare that all probationary employees are terminated is another dodge, the easy way out, but totally ineffective in weeding out waste. Many of them are long-term staff who were just switching positions. Excellent employees were cut, along with those rated poorly on their performance reviews.
Taxpayers want their tax dollars to be spent wisely. I certainly do. But DOGE isn’t doing that. It is dodging making the tough decisions. It is doing surgical procedures with a chainsaw, instead of a scalpel, per Sen. Justice, cutting “into the bone.†Which is why DOGE should be renamed DODGE. Musk (and Trump) are dodging the hard choices, taking the easy way out. And West Virginians will suffer the consequences.
Jack Bernard is a former West Virginia health care consultant living in Peachtree City, Georgia.
