No one was more pleased than I over Trump’s executive orders to cut government costs, remove DIE organizations and indoctrination, fire excess government non-workers, and prohibit men from competing with women in sports.

Initially, for these actions, there is plenty of “low-hanging fruit” to be taken down.   The headlines in the news are replete with the administration’s claims of increased safety, better efficiency, and reduced costs.

Promises made, promises kept.

As the new Department of Government Efficiency takes a deep breath and forges on, its methods will be challenged as overreaching.   DOGE cuts in programs and staff will be labeled as excessive.   Even liberal judges have rallied to the progressive cause with court restraints and charges of “unconstitutional.”

Did anyone think our country does not need to undergo radical changes in our conduct of governmental business?    Every president since Reagan has told the country that we must downsize and reform.   But none, except Trump, has shown any success.

America, we are now over $34 trillion in debt, with more debt on the way.   We cannot expect to make any real changes without some pain.   Yes, some good programs will be cut.   And yes, many government workers will make the case that they did not deserve termination.

The road to smaller, more responsive government will be strewn with the newly unemployed and some indicted fraudsters.   We, as Americans, must realize that the societal cost of “righting the ship of state” will be large.

In these early days, the bands will play at the rejoicing of early gains.   But the real work, the hard labor to institutionalize savings, is yet to come.   You see, the old DIE organizations have changed the name, using less obvious terminology.   For example, an Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will morph into a new Office of Strategic Personnel Resources, staffed with many of the zealots who operated DIE training centers.

Initial cancelation of funding, grants, and contracts will save some money.   But the Department of Defense cannot, to this day, account for about $1 trillion of expenditures.

Kickback schemes, price-gouging, and outright theft have been part and parcel of government operations for years.   Embedded inspectors general have done little to isolate these fraudulent practices.

No, the savings sought from here forward will require forensic accountants, bands of auditors, program experts, and even several whistleblowers to crack the walls of corruption.   The fraudulent practices of the past were embedded deep into the government’s operating procedures.   The masters of this fraud, both within and without the government, have receded into the shadows.   They will await a calming in the DOGE storm and will re-emerge, only slightly modified to avoid detection.

If we want to truly reform government, the tasks are laid out in front of us.   It will take time and money to wage this war.   But most importantly, it will take national resolve.

The DOGE’s cited savings announced thus far are impressive.   But they come from the “low-hanging fruit” of government waste.   We will have to dig deeper, much deeper, to purge the rot that has become the fabric of our government.

It won’t be pretty, and it won’t be fun.   But maybe, this time, it can be done.

Image: Tool Dude8mm via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.