Last week, President Trump did an about face on his administration’s federal hiring freeze. From the get go, it was clear that President Trump’s ill-advised federal hiring freeze would not only be unworkable, but also compromise the ability of the government to serve the American people. This policy was shortsighted and ignored two important facts. First, the size of the federal government is already at historic lows. Second, past hiring freezes have failed to reduce federal spending – in fact, research shows that federal hiring freezes actually increase costs, because the government becomes over reliant on expensive private contractors.
It was right for President Trump to back away from this harmful policy. But at the same time, it is deeply concerning that his administration plans to forge ahead with its proposal to severely slash federal spending. Like the hiring freeze, the proposed cuts to federal agencies will undermine valuable services – such as Social Security and Medicare – that the government provides to many Americans. The cuts will also threaten the job security of our nation’s civil servants and worsen their morale.
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At a time when many federal agencies – like the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Food and Drug Administration – face significant employee shortages, we should be investing more, not less, to fill vacancies across the federal government so that our public institutions can continue to function efficiently and effectively for the American people. At the same time, we must also defend the good work of our nation’s public servants and fight to ensure that members of our federal workforce receive the compensation and benefits they deserve.
When President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, announced last Tuesday that the administration would continue to pursue its draconian budget cuts, he said, “This is a big part of draining the swamp.” In reality, deeply cutting agency resources will do very little to reduce special-interest influence in our nation’s capital. In fact, it may do just the opposite.
If President Trump were serious and clear-eyed about “draining the swamp,” he would focus his energy and attention on real reforms, like the “By the People” legislative agenda. This includes a comprehensive suite of reforms – long championed by House Democrats – that would revitalize our nation’s voting laws, restore sanity to the electoral process, and empower everyday Americans to reclaim their voice in the political process.
In the same vein, President Trump could also take steps to “drain the swamp” by addressing the innumerable conflicts of interest and ethical issues surrounding his administration, including completely separating himself from his business assets and releasing his tax returns to the American people. This would restore faith among the electorate that the president is putting their interests first. Then, and only then, will President Trump be able to truly deliver on his promise to clean up Washington.
The American people deserve a government that works for them. But President Trump’s idea to drastically reduce funding for federal agencies will prevent our government from working, period. He should rethink this dangerous proposal for our country and its tremendous blow to our nation’s hardworking civil servants.
Sarbanes represents Maryland’s 3rd District and serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.
