I don’t have much of an “I saw massive waste in business” perspective. The only businesses I was in were creative freelancing and as a practicing attorney. I’ve written about how law firms fleece business clients by overbilling clients. “Creative billing" was the norm, not the exception. That is one of the reasons I spent most of my career practicing on my own. That is a business expense the bigger companies simply accept. Waste in business doesn’t have to be a fact of doing business.  

In the movie “Office Space,” one of the funnier scenes is when one of the employees admits that he doesn’t do much of anything but waste time and is lauded by the guys who are there to cut the ranks of useless employees. In that same movie, an employee who had been fired years before but was still collecting a paycheck literally burned the company to the ground when his red stapler was taken from him.   

I have a relative who works at Amazon. She told us of a bit of revolt at Amazon over the company telling employees to return to the office. Employees were quite content with “working” in the PJs from home. "You want us to work from...work?"  

I don’t think anyone, either in the private sector or working for the government would deny that the most waste can be found in government. When the United States was formed, the founders never envisioned the massive bureaucratic state that emanates from Washington, D.C. 

We also know that once something is “created” by the federal government, it is nearly impossible to get rid of it. Plenty of elected politicians have vowed to rid us of the massive government waste, but few have been about to make a scratch, let alone a dent.  

Now that Trump is returning to D.C. and he has two men who have a lot of private sector experience willing to take a battle axe to the bureaucratic waste, we might see some dents – maybe even some departments going the way of the dodo.  

Cutting waste isn’t that hard. Here is a link to “8 ways to cut” costs. How does one cut costs in government? The biggest waste is human. Government is top-heavy and bottle-laden with people who are very good at doing little to nothing. One guy with 10 supervisors. Who among us hasn’t seen highway construction with one guy working with 10 guys doing nothing but talking about it?  

Recall this: 

Along with our partners at @FEMA, we will continue with disaster recovery as a result of Hurricane Milton. The safety of the American people is our top priority. pic.twitter.com/l8NfS8dPlc

— CBP (@CBP) October 17, 2024

Like the name “Genghis Khan” struck fear into the hearts of the people of two continents, "DOGE" should strike fear into the hearts of federal employees.  

It isn’t just federal employees who are unnecessary but rather government itself, in many instances, that is also unnecessary. Trump has vowed to eliminate the Department of Education. Good. Procurement programs for the Department of Defense are often wasteful. Ten years ago, the Army told Congress that they didn’t want more M1 Abrams. Meh, said Congress – it authorized more millions for a weapons system that the Army (and Marines) told Congress they didn’t want. Why? Because the Abrams tank was manufactured in a district of an influential congressmember. 

Billions were wasted during and concerning the COVID panic. Billions down the drain or drained into bank accounts of foreign fraudsters or domestic fraudsters.  

How many federal employees are really needed? Some estimates are as high as 85 percent being dead-weight. That’s a lot of waste.  

Did you know that 85% of the federal workforce works from home and only have to come in one day a month? On any given day, only 17% of the federal workforce is in a federal office building working. Many hold other jobs. It's one giant looting operation and US taxpayers are their…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 18, 2024

If Trump’s administration is allowed to eliminate entire departments and cut the federal workforce, dents will be noticed. Bureaucrats are noticing, and they are terrified. Be terrified.  

Vivek Ramaswamy discussed DOGE's cost-cutting focus in an appearance on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" and told host Maria Bartiromo that DOGE will pursue major reductions in the federal bureaucracy which could result in some agencies being shuttered. 

We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright," Ramaswamy said. "We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are over-billing the federal government." 

Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are also looking to cut into or eliminate parts of the tax code, creating a more efficient way to take in taxes. Maybe they can eliminate the gun-toting agents at the IRS?   

Maybe people will finally recognize that the federal government is a bloated mess.

DOGE is coming. Be afraid, Feds – be very afraid.