Trump making good on promise to shrink government

American Thinker ^ | 01/01/2019 | Andrea Widburg

[SeekAndFind]

One of the promises President Trump made to American voters is that he would shrink the federal government. With the latest announcement that the National Security Council is set to lose as many as 330 people, the President is closing in on that goal.

The National Security Council has been at work in Washington, D.C., since 1947. Congress created it at the beginning of the Cold War to coordinate policy between the various government national security entities, such as the military and the CIA.

President Truman was unenthused, resenting Congress's impingement on his ability to handle foreign affairs. Nevertheless, he accepted its existence and Truman, followed by subsequent presidents, kept manipulating its shape and make-up to help make it a more congenial partner when working with the White House to defend American interests against overseas actors.

In the wake of 9/11, the NSC was reorganized, with a new Director of National Intelligence replacing the head of the CIA at the NSC's helm and taking a place in the President's cabinet. Under President Obama's watch, the NSC grew in size and power, with as many as 450 people assigned to it when he merged the NSC and White House staff supporting the Homeland Security Council into a single National Security Staff.

When President Trump assumed office, he set about again reorganizing the NSC structure and chain of command in significant part to cut down on the number of people mandated to attend various meetings.

President Trump is once again re-working the NSC, this time to bring it in line with his promises to make the federal government smaller and more responsive, as well as to break the flow of sensitive information NSC staff to the media:

[oincobx]

That article cites old data. In January 2017, federal employmnent was 2.810 million. In November 2019 it was 2.829. Part of the recent increase and decline in the most recent months is related to Census hiring.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9091000001

[grey_whiskers]

Should we call it Preparation T or Preparation G?

Oh, I guess Preparation H is still applicable after all...

[yoe]

(piggy-backed positions unnecessary)

[Georgia Girl 2]

Unless Trump shutters some of these agencies the next president will just rehire. Its a viscious cycle.

[pepsi_junkie]

President Truman was unenthused, resenting Congress's impingement on his ability to handle foreign affairs.

Truman disliked the CIA too, after he was out of office. So he had some inkling how this could end up with a USA Gestapo (which, by collaborating with the FBI to frame people and spy on citizens is where it has been headed). “I think it was a mistake. If I’d known what was going to happen, I never would have done it. Eisenhower never paid any attention to it and it got out of hand. It’s become a government all of its own and all secret…that’s a very dangerous thing in a democratic society.”

But then again, he hated the USMC for some odd inexplicable reason.

[cgbg]

Move Department HQ to Anchorage—the problem will solve itself!

[Colorado Doug]

I suspect that the swamp is very deep at the NSC. Trump is right to purge it of the stench of obama.

"On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama merged the White House staff supporting the Homeland Security Council (HSC) and the National Security Council into one National Security Staff (NSS). The HSC and NSC each continue to exist by statute as bodies supporting the President.[3] The name of the staff organization was changed back to National Security Council Staff in 2014."

[Dave W]

Thanks, but not convincing at all. Often, government jobs are replaced with contractors, so the only evidence I believe the federal government is decreasing is if the budged actually shrinks, which will never happen.

[jimpick]

The government has not always gone up since Andrew Jackson. Here are 3 years when it didn’t. 1922, 1923, 1928.

1922 was down 8% form 1921
1923 was down 0.8% from 1922
1928 was down 0.3% from 1927

But those cuts in 22 and 23 of 8.3% carried for several years. It was not until 1927 that the full 8.3% were back in the budget. Shortly after was the stock market crash. But before the stock market crash was the roaring 20’s

Who would have thought cutting taxes and paying down the debt would lead to a great economy?

Plug in the year to see the federal budget change here:

https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_percent_1922USdt_21ds2n

[jimpick]

Sorry that should be 8.8% not 8.3% in my last post.

[dsrtsage]

Our corporation one day decided to fire 1000 people from IT, and nobody noticed

[DoughtyOne]

Okay, in one agency he has cut 330 jobs.

One!

He’s probably cutting other places too.

Let’s consider this also. If a Leftist were in there, there would have been 500 new hires.

I don’t see Trump get much credit.

Some of us seem too busy second guessing the guy to give him credit where credit is due.

[AFreeBird]

330 people from the NSC ain’t chicken feed. And how many of those were agent provocateurs, spies or just in general deep state butt heads?

Cutting out whole agencies is going to be tough row to hoe, even with the help of Congress.

And how likely do you see that happening right now? Still, relocating them out of town is within his purview.