Saturday, February 10, 2018

President Trump Proposes The Biggest Civil Service Changes In 40 Years



USA Today: 'Hire the best and fire the worst': Trump proposes biggest civil service change in 40 years

WASHINGTON — President Trump will seek to "hire the best and fire the worst" federal government employees under the most ambitious proposal to overhaul the civil service in 40 years, officials said.

The measures will be outlined in the budget plan that Trump will send to Congress Monday, said four Office of Management and Budget officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the budget hasn't been released.

Trump foreshadowed the proposal in a line in his State of the Union address last week: "Tonight, I call on Congress to empower every Cabinet Secretary with the authority to reward good workers and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people," he said.

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WNU Editor: In my entire life I have only witnessed once the downsizing of a government bureaucracy, and that one time was when the Soviet Union collapsed and split apart. Almost everyone I knew who had a job working for the Soviet state was out of a job within a few weeks. And the sad part was that many still showed up for work .... and they did so for months .... in the hope that everything will correct itself and they would get a paycheck. Of course .... they never got a dime. I still shudder inside when I think of those days. As for President Trump's proposal to make the civil service more accountable .... I wish him luck, but government bureaucracies have a life of their own. On a side note .... I find it interesting that this story has been ignored by literally everyone in the U.S. main stream media.

6 comments:

jac said...

When economy is at its best it is also the best time to fire bureaucracy. They have a chance to find a job, not when the economy is at its worse.

Anonymous said...

Remember JFK encouraging Americans to make the sacrifice to become a civil servant...sure the money is no good, but you will be doing your civic duty. Boy have times changed, civil service jobs are an absolute gravy train now days. The question is, can it last forever.

Anonymous said...

Gravy train? A full US senator made less than what I made fresh out of college in tech. Sure they likely get sweet book deals, give speeches here and there, but they need bodyguards for the rest of their lives usually. It's no gravy train. They work their phones all day to be able to pay their staff. It's nightmare work. That's why they're all so twisted and you have the "revolving door" and such high levels of corruption and what appears as incompetence. The best and brightest don't do civil service because they don't want to compete in a world of lies - BSing your constituents all day..telling yourself over and over that you're God's gift to humanity (like Hillary did and then became such a monster of a former person). No, thank you.

Anonymous said...

This is all about Trump trying to drive put anyone not loyal to him. Very In American. The Republicans are pushing this because they are trying to shrink the size of the government. But only really trying to shrink the amount of non Republicans in the government. They complain about spending for a decade, then add 2 trillion in a tax cut (83% to the richest Americans and Corporations, that primarilly donate to Republicans). Then they add 300 billion in New debt subsidised spending in the newer budget. Out the window went "pay as you go." Same thing happened under the last Republican president. Under Bush II they spent money hand over fist, all debt (Medicare Part D, 2 wars without tax increases to pay for it, additional military spending. It costs trillions) the end result was the worst recession since the Great Depression. That's all this is and is why you don't vote for Republicans, because if you do, you get what republicans really are, just out for power, not governing. The government is an incompetent mess now and the laughing stock of the world, which no longer listens to us seriously. Why would they? We have very few ambassador to talk with anyone, and when we do, we can't be guaranteed not to do the exact opposite the next day.

Anonymous said...

Full pension at 52...while it's doeable in the private sector you have to be one smart cookie to make that happen.

Roger said...


My drive to the VA in Loma Linda is 184 miles round trip. In years past when I would call for an appointment, the affirmative action drones would be talking in the background about last weekend's social action or other topics not VA related. On two occasions I made that drive for nothing. My doctor at the time never said anything but she didn't need to. The look on her face said it all. She left shortly after. That facility is more professional now.
The VA in the early 70's was very poorly run, to say the least. Most noticeable were the checks for college, The GI Bill. Many veterans had to quit college due to incomprehensible errors in their checks, if they received one. At the time I started back to school in 1971, full time attendance was $175/month. That was supposed to pay for everything. Slim pickings.
Sometime in the early 70's Nixon fired the head of the VA and things straightened out after awhile.
There are lots of stories like mine.
So this is part of the reason I strongly support Trump on this one.

Roger