Hello and welcome to the third post of Talking Points! Few narratives have been so impactful to the second term Presidency of Donald Trump as that of widespread fraud, waste, and abuse in the spending of the federal government. So important has this concept been to his presidency, that he established an office, the Department of Government Efficiency, to respond to said fraud. This department, colloquially known as DOGE and under the leadership of Elon Musk, has rapidly reshaped the federal government, firing thousands of employees, freezing spending, and dismantling certain agencies. Rather than examining the specifics of the waste and fraud, as was the original conception of this post, we will examine the nature of the federal government, its history, and its current position.

On its face, the federal government is granted very limited power by the Constitution, which are referred to as the enumerated powers. These powers include the ability to levy taxes and tariffs, coin money, regulate commerce, to operate the postal service, to grant copyrights and patents, to declare war, and to raise a military force. At least nominally, all powers not listed are delegated to the states, as per the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Although these are the powers the Constitution grants to the federal government, centuries of Constitutional law have greatly expanded the powers exerted by the federal government. In understanding the expansion of the powers of the federal government, it is critical to understand the Great Depression and the New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In 1929, the United States entered the Great Depression, a large-scale economic decline. From its beginning, to the inauguration of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as President, the federal government under then President Hoover did little to alleviate the Depression, as it generally was not involved in American daily life. However, this would change with the New Deal as established by Roosevelt, a series of federal programs to provide relief from poverty, employment opportunities, and economic stimulation. Such programs greatly expanded the role of the federal government in American life. Directly succeeding the Great Depression, also under the stewardship of Roosevelt, was the American participation in the Second World War. The Second World War required a vast mobilization of American society, expanding the role of the federal government even further. The expansion continued during the Cold War, and has been continuing after. For example, a set of programs under President Johnson, known as the Great Society, expanded the federal government to fight poverty, forming Medicaid, Medicare, a job training program, and a volunteer program.

In order to understand why the expansion has continued afterwards, it is imperative to understand that there are two ways that the government can influence the economy, monetary policy and fiscal policy. Monetary policy is not generally relevant to this discussion, however, fiscal policy is highly relevant. Fiscal policy refers to how spending and taxation can influence the direction of the economy. By raising taxation or lowering spending, the amount of money flowing within the economy can be decreased, while by lowering taxation or raising spending, the economy can be stimulated. The New Deal, stimulus packages like the kind signed by President Obama in 2008, and stimulus checks like the kind executed under the CARES act by President Trump in 2020, represent fiscal policy intended to expand the amount of money flowing within the economy. Considering that such policies increase expenditures and reduce income, the deficit can be expected to increase. Therefore, during periods where we would want reduce the amount of money flowing through the economy, we could expect a reduced deficit or even surplus, as taxation rises and spending falls. However, such efforts are politically unpopular, and generally do not occur.

This has led to a situation where the the federal government spends far more than it takes in through tax revenue. For example, in 2023, the government took in 4.4 trillion dollars but spent 6.1 trillion dollars. The 1.7 trillion dollars was added to the national debt, in the form of United States Treasury Instruments, bonds sold by the federal government. Such instruments are readily bought by investors due to their high-degree of reliability, they are AAA-rated, the highest rating offered by credit rating agencies. Because of this, the federal government is able to finance an expanding debt, which means there it little concern that the government will run out of money. However, as the debt expands, there is concern about its size, particularly among those who desire the federal government to play less of a role in American daily life, especially in regards to programs like Medicare, Social Security, and regulations.

Such an individual is currently is currently President. President Trump has demonstrated an intention to limit several aspects of the federal government, such as contracts, health services, foreign aid, agricultural subsidies, among others. These actions have largely been executed by Elon Musk, a tech billionaire and close Trump ally, under the leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency. The Department of Government Efficiency, colloquially known as DOGE, exists as a program of the United States DOGE Service. The United States DOGE Service was created without congressional authorization, and has been taking steps to prevent the federal government from spending money. This power is known as impoundment, and is not within the Constitution.

The Constitution is very clear in that federal spending is authorized by Congress, with all spending bills originating in the House of Representatives. Impoundment, wherein a President does not spend money as authorized by Congress, is not in the Constitution. However, it has been practiced numerous Presidents on various occasions, including by President Nixon. President Nixon utilized impoundment numerous times, which led to the passage of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, that limits the power. Despite the existence of this law, President Trump is engaging in extensive impoundment. Such actions include the effective elimination of USAID as an agency, the freezing of grants and loans, and engaging in the mass firings and layoffs of federal employees.

That the United States should be smaller or larger, should have a lower deficit or should continue the current level of spending, and that the states should retain their current level of power or should have more autonomy from the federal government, are all matters of legitimate debate. These are the very questions and answers that Constitutional law exists to answer. What is clear is that spending is under control of Congress, that the President and their subordinates cannot outright stop large amounts of appropriated money from being spent. The current administration may disagree with international aid as administered by USAID, believe that beneficiaries should not receive the grants and loans they have been approved for, and may perceive the work of numerous federal employees as being unnecessary or redundant. However, for the current administration to freeze foreign aid and dismantle USAID, for it to freeze grants and loans, and for it to fire thousands of federal employees whose salaries have been appropriated by Congress, demonstrates both a seizure of power by the executive branch, and a failure to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. With both the power to disburse appropriated spending and to enforce the laws as set by Congress, the President will gain an amount of power far exceeding what was intended. Therefore, it is critical that Congress forces the current administration to resume the appropriated spending.