The Trump Administration announced Monday morning that all Executive Departments to review their spending and provide strategies on steps to reduce waste.  In anticipation of the release of the Trump budget and projected layoffs, (as covered by my colleague Streiff this morning), these waste cuts are a part of a bigger strategy to cut federal spending and trim the size of government.

From The Washington Examiner:

President Trump will issue a new memorandum on Monday that requires every executive agency to conduct an internal review of how their funding is being abused and what changes they can pursue to operate more efficiently.

“This order requires a thorough examination of every executive department and agency, to see where money is being wasted, how services can be improved, and whether programs are truly serving American citizens,” a White House official told the Washington Examiner.

The president’s latest executive order marks “the beginning of the long-overdue reorganization of our federal departments and agencies, and another massive step toward making the federal government efficient, effective, and accountable to the people,” the official said.

Imagine that.  A government where leaders were accountable for their departments and attempted to make sure their departments are best spending the money entrusted to them by taxpayers.

I know to ask such a thing from federal employees must be terrible.  While the majority of Americans live on a budget, federal employees should have the luxury to spend money like drunken sailors!  I mean, if they are given money, they should find ways to spend it, right?

God forbid they actually have to be accountable for their spending.  Frankly, I don’t care which department it is.  If you’re spending money on things and in ways that those funds shouldn’t be spent, then I don’t want you heading up a department.   As with any entity that is spending record amounts the maintain debt, I’d expect efforts to reduce in every way, how fast that entity goes into debt if not eliminate it altogether.  I’d expect efforts to reduce that debt, and allow us to spend more money on programs and less on servicing debt.  If you’re goal is to spend money for the sake of spending money, then you don’t belong in any government office.  Instead of over-charging and underperforming, I’d for once like to hear of an office under-charging and overperforming.

We are expected to be accountable to the government in a lot of different ways.  We are accountable to pay taxes, to license our cars, and (more lately) have health insurance.  Is it too much to ask for a little reciprocity in that?

I think not.