The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
David Costello of Brunswick was the Maine Democratic Party’s 2024 candidate for the U.S. Senate.
To say that many of the actions being undertaken by the Trump administration are unprecedented and perilous is an understatement. No presidential administration has ever done so much that is so wrong in such a short span of time that it’s almost impossible to determine where to begin to push back or what to focus on.
Is it the administration’s weaponization of our justice system; dangerous upending of decades of America defending democracy against authoritarianism and Russian aggression; unparalleled use of falsehoods and disinformation; destabilization of our economy; or is it, under the guise of eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the administration’s chaotic dismantling of important government programs, regulations, and agencies?
There’s little doubt that most Americans have for some time believed that the federal government is broken and that, for too long, too many of their concerns and interests have been ignored. The Trump administration clearly understands this and is taking full advantage of this view. However, I believe the administration’s dishonest, chainsaw-wielding approach to fixing what ails Washington will only exacerbate the federal government’s shortcomings and make it harder to enact smarter, more substantial and constructive governing fixes.
During my recent campaign for the U.S. Senate, I campaigned on the need to fix Washington by shoring up rather than crippling the federal government’s capacity to protect us and provide needed benefits and services. To strengthen, not weaken, our democracy by enacting long-overdue legislative and constitutional reforms. Transformative reforms designed to lessen the excessive and corrupting influence that money, wealth and disinformation have over our politics and government. End congressional gridlock. And bolster the federal government’s ability to address such pressing problems as climate change; unaffordable housing and health care; economic inequality; shoddy infrastructure; gun violence; and insufficient retirement security.
Unfortunately, instead of working to address these and similar challenges, the Trump administration has largely focused on slashing the federal workforce, whose compensation represents less than 5 percent of the federal budget and obliterating important government agencies and programs to settle personal grievances and to pay for irresponsible debt and deficit-exploding tax cuts for the ultra-rich at the expense of everyone else.
This isn’t to say that the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress shouldn’t do more to root out government waste and inefficiencies. Such challenges exist and will always require attention. Yet the true level of government waste, fraud, and abuse is nowhere near the extent that the administration claims.
Instead of relying on the work of ill-qualified, sycophantic political appointees, the Trump administration and Republican Congress would do better to establish and rely on the findings of a well-resourced and wholly independent government accountability and efficiency commission. A non-partisan commission composed of distinguished economists, scientists, lawyers, doctors, engineers, business and labor leaders, foreign policy and trade specialists, and other experts and staff. Experts and staff who are beholden to no one, including the White House or Congress, and are charged with continually evaluating and reporting on the efficacy of federal agency budgets, programs and services, and recommending cuts and adjustments when necessary.
Sadly, the Trump administration appears to favor chaos and blind loyalty over competence, and working to establish such a commission would be an extreme departure from its current course of action.
If the Trump administration has accomplished anything over the past couple of months, it’s shown that our federal government is indeed broken and in need of an overhaul. That our “checks and balance system” is severely flawed. And that an ill-intentioned, unchecked president can do a lot of damage.
