{"id":8728,"date":"2025-12-29T16:11:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/29\/my-wish-for-2026-rationality-in-the-trump-era-federal-news-network\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T16:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:11:27","slug":"my-wish-for-2026-rationality-in-the-trump-era-federal-news-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/12\/29\/my-wish-for-2026-rationality-in-the-trump-era-federal-news-network\/","title":{"rendered":"My wish for 2026: Rationality in the Trump era – Federal News Network"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A few thoughts on the year about to close.<\/p>\n

Driving on the Donald J. Trump George Washington Memorial Parkway the other day, I was impressed by the progress in the reconstruction of this vital artery. The contractors and the Trump National Park Service planned well, and the road has remained reasonably passable over the past couple of years. Now the trip to the Donald J. Trump John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has gotten easier. Ditto for trips to the Donald J. Trump Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always liked where the Parkway runs close to the Trump Potomac River. You can see across to Trump Washington Monument and the Trump Tidal Basin. But, stately as the nation\u2019s capital appears, change and lots of chaos have marked the calendar year about to end.<\/p>\n

But seriously, looking at the D.C. skyline, one wonders about the real state of the republic.<\/p>\n

If you search \u201ctrump timeline,\u201d you\u2019ll find timelines from many interest groups, most of whom feel aggrieved by the second Trump administration. The release of the Epstein files, \u201cundermining elections,\u201d deportation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, reversing energy policies, legal tangling with Harvard University, military activity against Venezuela \u2014 Trump activities make for compelling observation. A lot of this is press-induced, and the Trump style eggs it on. Yet norms have stretched.<\/p>\n

I would add that only some of what Trump has done is completely original. But he does things, let\u2019s say, in highly original ways. The result is we have two branches of government in contention with one another. The third branch, and the one detailed first in the Constitution, has rendered itself into an observant chorus with no say over the score.<\/p>\n

For federal employees, 2025 will rank as the oddest year many have ever endured. It started with the DOGE swarms, slashing their way to and fro. Then came the deferred resignation program and layoffs. Mass return to the office. Cancellation of collective bargaining agreements at several agencies. Difficulties in settling retirement benefits.<\/p>\n

So much news, it almost made me regret retiring. The workforce reductions and changes of conditions may all fall within an administration\u2019s discretionary powers. But rough treatment of persons falls outside of decency. Let\u2019s hope it stops in 2026. I remember a time when a new president of a company I worked for brought in a gaggle of MBAs to do cost cutting. The attitudes felt worse than the cuts, and the company eventually disappeared anyhow.<\/p>\n

One thing 2025 has taught me: Keep things in perspective. The worst job situations I remember? I can chuckle about them now. That\u2019s what time does. I once secretly flew to New Jersey and back for a job interview \u2014 all in a really extended lunch hour. To be honest, the new job seemed dull, and I never got the offer. Luckily, the situation I was seeking to leave changed overnight for the better, the way<\/em> better. While you are going through cavalier and high-handed treatment, it\u2019s no fun.<\/p>\n

And what about the nation you serve? The absence of any serious debate about what the Government Accountability Office politely calls fiscal unsustainability strikes me as the worst quality in Congress and executive branch policy makers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as if no one knows that next year alone the federal deficit will add $2 trillion to the $30 trillion national debt. That Social Security outlays increasingly surpass revenues for as far as the eye can see. That healthcare programs exceed the $3 trillion mark. That interest payments on public debt have passed the $1 trillion mark. The absolute numbers are big, and they are worsening when expressed as a percentage of the nation\u2019s economic output.<\/p>\n

So my wish for the nation in the year ahead is fact-facing and rationality, especially on the part of so-called lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Beyond thinking of any possible policy and programmatic fixes, the government must resolve to become a better steward of the money it does print and spend.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking of Minnesota. The federal prosecutor on the Minnesota Medicare fraud scheme described it as \u201cstaggering industrial-scale fraud.\u201d As Trump would say, and McDonald\u2019s used to say, billions and billions. The theft \u2014 and it is simple, naked theft \u2014 is both heartbreaking and maddening. At an estimated $9 billion, it makes the worst armed robbery seem like child\u2019s play. One almost thinks the perpetrators deserve hanging, such is the extent and callous shrewdness of the crimes. But it also evidences a near total breakdown in program planning, execution and oversight \u2014 mainly at the state level, but there\u2019s federal responsibility too. Did anyone notice or care that this was going on?<\/p>\n

The staff cuts and turmoil have affected constituent service. People I speak to seem amusedly resigned to how places like the IRS, Social Security and the Postal Service operate. Line employees mostly want to serve effectively, but what kind of backing do they get?<\/p>\n

The week before Christmas, I stopped in at my local Postal Service office. It\u2019s busy, a beehive of a facility. I recently became president of a very small non-profit foundation, and we needed to move the P.O. box from Virginia to Maryland so I could easily get the incoming donation checks.<\/p>\n

On a Thursday morning, only one employee manned the four-bay counter. Efficiently as she worked, still the line kept stretching to nine, then a dozen, people deep. For a reason I only dimly comprehended, I couldn\u2019t complete the transfer because of a mismatch in phone numbers. I straightened it out a couple of days later, when I had the right information. Two clerks were then on duty, and they kept the lines short.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9\u00a02025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few thoughts on the year about to close. Driving on the Donald J. Trump George Washington Memorial Parkway the other day, I was impressed by the progress in the reconstruction of this vital artery. The contractors and the Trump National Park Service planned well, and the road has remained reasonably passable over the past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}