The Chainsaw Approach Is Dismantling the Civil Service

By Troy Cofie

Roughly two months into Donald Trump's presidency we have seen an unprecedented number of layoffs of civil servants who work for the federal government under the guise of reducing fraud and waste while improving government efficiency. People who have dedicated their lives to serving our nation and keeping our system functioning as best as possible are now seen as waste. Yes, the federal government does have an issue with inefficient bureaucracy that hamstrings the functions of the government. But to solve this Congress can increase funding in order to improve our civil service. However, taking a chainsaw to cut down the entire civil service for such reasons is just baffling and short-sighted. Dismantling the civil service would only jeopardize the United States' response to complex issues that may arise in the future and only serve those who covet power.

To start, a blogger named Nathan Tankus has been writing about the dangers of DOGE's attempts under the guidance of Elon Musk to control the Treasury's payment systems. Tankus explained in his blogs how the Bureau of Fiscal Service—the agency that runs our payment system—has been trying to improve matching bank accounts and death registries. Furthermore, the Bureau of Fiscal Service has consistently requested extra funding for these improvements but to no avail. As he opined, the lack of funding in our agencies is what causes inefficiency. To exemplify this point, when the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was passed, there was a surge in audits and tax filing in the 2024 

The US Capitol building where Congress meets. Photo by Pixabay

tax season after the IRS received funding. Tax collection increased from $4.7 trillion in 2023 to $5.1 trillion in 2024 according to Vox. Those increases all came from the increased tax enforcement on incomes above $400,000 while settling anyform of tax evasion according to Vox.  

The U.S federal government does function when given the proper support it needs. If we want to improve government efficiency, Congress should increase funding for our agencies to have more resources and listen to their needs. Quite the contrary on what Elon Musk and President Trump are advocating for. To make matters worse, it seems Musk is particularly hellbent in order to benefit his own business. He is poised to curate the government to serve his

Government initiatives have sparked new debates. Photo by Bing.

personal needs, creating multiple conflicts of interest. A glaring example is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It's a watchdog agency that seeks to protect consumers in the financial markets from potential abuse and fraud, including regulating Fintech companies. According to CBS, Musk’s DOGE decided that they pay CFPB a visit to access their computers, lacking any transparency on why they need to access such information. On those computers, is a wealth of information on banking information, trade secrets and personal information, according to 60 Minutes. Musk just happened to announce that X will begin a peer-to-peer payment system called X Money that would rival Venmo and Cash App. Even better, the CFPB plan to have more oversight on peer-to-peer payment systems was put on hold, according to Rolling Stones. This example shows just one conflict of interest regarding Elon Musk

It's no surprise that the IRS, which has suffered such budget cuts for decades, improved its performance after being funded. Unfortunately, ideology and power get in the way of seeing that. These attacks on civil servants will only hurt us in the long run. Talented Americans who have worked for the government will now look elsewhere for a career. People who have spent their entire lives in the federal government are being slandered as incompetent.

This one is a bit personal; I've always wanted to work for the federal government. I believed it was one way to give back and try to make a difference in people's lives. However, these events have made me rethink my career path. Though, I have hope that the civil service can be rejuvenated in the near future. We, as a nation,  just need to realize the importance of the civil service.