Not a day goes by in this country without some mention of the governing bureaucracy and how it needs to be reduced in order to achieve greater efficiency. The words “waste, fraud and abuse” are now part of the lingo of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by President Trump’s controversial appointee Elon Musk. For most Americans, the bureaucracy is one big, complex and often misunderstood government mega-organization that runs this country by implementing the laws passed by Congress and according to the Constitution works with the executive branch to “ensure that the laws are faithfully executed.”
But exactly what is the bureaucracy? Simply put the bureaucracy are those federal government entities that employ millions of workers (civilians and military personnel) who occupy positions in a wide range of presidential cabinet agencies, independent regulatory commissions, specialized offices, public/private corporations, and temporary organizations with a narrowly defined objective. As of 2024, there were 2,405,100 civilian federal employees (not including the United States Postal Service — a public/private entity — with 636,966 employees) and members of the armed services.
The largest number of federal employees are in the Department of Defense with 1.4 million active-duty uniformed personnel in six armed services, 778,000 National Guard and reservists and 747,000 civilian employees bringing the total to 2.91 million employees. Active-duty military personnel, members of the National Guard and reservists are often not included when counting civilian government employees in the Defense Department. Second to the civilian workers in Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs has the next largest number of employees at 486,000 with the smallest number, 4,400, at the Department of Education. The overall number of federal employees is likely to undergo a significant change in personnel because of DOGE’s efforts to trim down the number of bureaucrats in a large-scale cost cutting initiative.
At the core of the work of the bureaucrats is the implementation of congressional legislation, which in large part means setting rules and regulations that are viewed as necessary to achieve the objectives of the law. Often laws are broadly written and without clear methods of implementation requiring government agencies to “fill in the blanks” to ensure proper compliance with the scope and intent of the legislation. It is these rules and regulations that are currently under fire by the Trump administration and DOGE as they are viewed as excessive and restrict the ability of businesses large and small to grow the economy. President Trump has proposed what he has called the 10-1 rule — for every new rule promulgated by the bureaucracy, 10 existing rules will be negated. Although the Trump administration and DOGE view the bureaucratic rule making and regulation as harmful and antithetical to property rights, proponents of bureaucratic action often state that implementing congressional legislation requires the government use its role in the policy-making process to protect Americans from private or corporate actions that may be dangerous, unhealthy, illegal and against the common good.
It is interesting to note that from recent public opinion polls the American people are divided in their views of the efforts of the Trump administration to cut back on government spending and to root out what is considered a bloated and corrupt bureaucratic establishment. A CBS-New/YouGov poll taken in late February found that 51% of Americans said they approve of cutting staff at government agencies, by no means a strong measure of support, although the polls showed that a larger majority view bureaucrats in a negative light and feel that staff reductions are necessary. With respect to the view of Americans toward Elon Musk and DOGE, however, a Washington Post-IPSOS poll found that 49% of Americans disapprove of Musk’s handling of the government cutbacks, while only 34% expressed approval. Polling also revealed a significant disapproval of the manner in which Musk’s gained access to sensitive personal data. Both the issues of the firing of government employees and the acquisition of personal data are currently working their way through the federal court system.
Also, of importance in the current debate over the role of the bureaucracy and bureaucrats is the huge upswing in the hiring of private contractors and the negotiations of private work contracts. While the number of official civilian federal employees has not changed significantly in over 50 years, the number of private contractors has more than doubled in size and is the main target of DOGE and cabinet level secretaries who are convinced that previous presidential administrations directed government spending to individual contractors or non-profit organizations where “waste, fraud and abuse” were rampant. For example, Elon Musk’s initial targeting of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for closure raised questions about alleged misappropriation of private contract funding by the USAID for programs of little apparent benefit.
Amidst all the furor over the government bureaucracy and the efforts to reduce the size and costs of implementing the laws passed by Congress is the uncertainty over how the firing of thousands of employees, the claims of extensive evidence of “waste, fraud and abuse” and the signs that government entitlement and supportive programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and Veterans Affairs may be on the chopping block will achieve significant saving to meet the stated goal of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget. It is these safety net programs being discussed by the Trump administration and DOGE that are causing a backlash from many Americans, especially seniors and veterans who depend on these programs for medical care and monthly income.
In this anti-bureaucracy environment of the Trump-Musk administration, there are some bright spots in government agencies as polling data point to favorable views toward the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Postal Service (USPS). To many Americans government may be bloated, but some agencies do work, except for one. Not surprisingly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) occupies the bottom of the favorability ranking which has become a target for reduction by DOGE and regular criticism from President Trump. Few Americans are supportive of paying taxes or worse yet being audited.
This reduction process initiated by the Trump administration and orchestrated by Elon Musk and DOGE has yet to fully play out in the American governing system. A $2 trillion goal is a mighty sum since 66% of all government spending is in entitlement/safety net expenditures that are in the main supported by the general populace. Protest marches, town meeting shout outs of members of Congress and collapsing poll numbers point to an American public that views the staffing cuts and program reductions with growing distain. Hold on, we are in for a bumpy ride in the coming months.