The Department of Energy Misspent Nearly $1 Billion in 2024
While $1 billion is a drop in the wasteful spending bucket, fiscal irresponsibility of all sizes must be eradicated.
Federal Agencies
Trump's Chaos Cabinet
Plus: a listener asks the editors about fluoride in the water supply.
Trump's Energy Picks Are Refreshingly Competent
If confirmed, Chris Wright and Gov. Doug Burgum will have the opportunity to prioritize innovation and deregulation to the benefit of taxpayers and the environment.
How Elon Musk and DOGE Can Deliver on Smaller Government
Plus: a listener asks the editors why it is acceptable to allow unrestricted border crossings into the United States without penalty.
Infographic: How Republicans and Democrats View Federal Agencies
Democrats tend to view the feds favorably but many agencies are under water among Republicans.
DOGE's Chances Are Slim, but It Might Be Our Only Hope
Congress and the president show no interest in cutting government. Maybe outsiders can get it done.
Abolish the FDA
Many seriously ill people die waiting for the FDA to approve drugs that regulators in other advanced countries have already approved.
Abolish the TSA
The agency has not made air travel safer but it has made it costlier and more time-consuming to fly.
Abolish the NSA and CIA
Ending these unaccountable agencies would safeguard civil liberties and improve intelligence gathering.
Abolish the Federal Alcohol Tax and Regulation System
The states already overregulate alcohol. There's no need for a federal layer of red tape.
Abolish the Department of Education
The federal government furnishes a relatively tiny amount of K-12 funding—but the feds need relatively little money to exert power.
Abolish the Small Business Administration
Like all government perks, SBA lending creates unseen victims.
Abolish Amtrak
Why should the federal government run a transportation corporation?
Abolish the DEA
The DEA's attempts to enforce the nation's drug laws have been a resounding failure by pretty much any measure.
Abolish Social Security
Stop robbing poor, hard-working Peter to pay well-off, retired Paul.
Abolish ICE
The federal immigration agency disrupts communities and families, for no good.
Abolish the Department of Transportation
When money comes down from the DOT, it has copious strings attached to it—strings that make infrastructure more expensive and less useful.
Abolish FEMA
FEMA has given Americans every reason to believe it is highly politicized, a poor steward of federal resources, bad at establishing priorities, and often unable to communicate clearly to people in distress.
Environmental Protection Agency
Trump's Next EPA Administrator Is a Lawyer, Not an Environmentalist
Lee Zeldin’s legal prowess may lead to a shrinking of the administrative state.
The Next President Should Abolish Everything
In the Abolish Everything issue, Reason writers make the case for ending the Fed, the Army, Social Security, and everything else.
Review: Neil Gorsuch Says There Are Too Many Laws
No one knows how many federal crimes there are, the Supreme Court justice notes in Over Ruled.
J.D. Vance Is Wrong: Congress Is Indeed 'a High-Class Debating Society'
While congressmen hold performative hearings to win political points, they delegate policymaking to the administrative.
Commerce Department Bans Chinese Car Components
Commerce Secretary Raimondo insists the rule "is a strictly national security action."
Secretive Service
Plus: Harris clinching nomination, Trump appealing N.Y. civil fraud judgment, and more...
The Supreme Court Didn't Destroy the Regulatory State. It Stood Up for Due Process.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says these cases will "devastate" the regulatory state. Good.
Why the End of Chevron Could Be a Win for Immigrants
“Immigration is an area of the law where the partisan alignments break down over Chevron.”
Government Warns That Playground Equipment Gets Hot
Thanks for the heads up, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Hey, Fauci's Staff: You Can't Just 'Make Your Emails Disappear'
A government scientist is the latest official whose attempts to evade the Freedom of Information Act have landed him in hot water.
Biden Administration Strips Federal Funding From Nonprofit at Center of COVID Lab Leak Controversy
Federal officials say EcoHealth Alliance failed to properly report on its gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and to monitor safety conditions there.
Remy: Fortnight (Federal Employee Version)
A tale from the Tortured Public Servants Department.
An American Gangster at 100: J. Edgar Hoover's Authoritarian Legacy
Hoover’s reign at the FBI compromised American civil liberties and turned the FBI into America's secret police.
A Cruel and Risky Abortion Ban Versus an Overreaching Interpretation of Federal Law
There are no good sides in today's Supreme Court case concerning the EMTALA and abortion.
After Nearly 20 Years, They Finally Freed the Frozen Cherry Pie
The market offers many alternatives to bad desserts. We don’t need the FDA to step in.
Can the Government Be More Effective?
William D. Eggers discusses what he's learned about making the government less intrusive.
The FBI Needs Downsizing, Not $3.5 Billion for a New Headquarters
Lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia fought over which state should house the new site rather than whether the bureau even needs so many agents.
Federal Agencies Maintain Offices That Sit Mostly Empty
A new Government Accountability Office report notes that of 24 federal agencies, none of their headquarters are more than half-staffed on an average day.
The Federal Government Spent $3.3 Billion on Office Furniture as Employees Worked From Home
The Department of Defense spent $1.2 billion on furniture between 2020 and 2022, although it only uses 23 percent of its office space.
The Best of Reason: The DEA at 50
For five decades, drugs have been winning the war on drugs.
After 50 Years, the DEA Is Still Losing the War on Drugs
For five decades, the agency has destroyed countless lives while targeting Americans for personal choices and peaceful transactions.
It Takes 6 Clicks To Cancel Amazon Prime and the FTC's New Lawsuit Says That's Too Many
The ideal number of clicks to cancel an online subscription may be four or five instead of six, but we don't need government to make that decision.
Dissecting the Durham Report
Join Reason on YouTube Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern with Eli Lake to discuss what the Durham report tells us about the FBI, the media and U.S. politics.
State Department To Bring Back Domestic Visa Renewal for Some Foreign Workers
Until 2004, all foreign workers could renew their visas without leaving the United States.
Why Do Federal Bureaucrats Need So Much Firepower?
A new report details a startling trend: Federal agencies with no obvious law enforcement purview are spending millions each year on guns and ammunition.
Supreme Court Could Rein In Administrative State With New Case
Plus: Divides over misinformation, on free markets and social justice, and more…
FDA Head Wants 'Better Regulation' of What Government Considers Misinformation
Officials who often get it wrong can’t be trusted to reliably decree what’s true.
Federal Agencies Are Still Using Our Phones as Tracking Beacons
Our mobile devices constantly snitch on our whereabouts.
Want Better Journalism and Less B.S.? Demand Stronger Public Record Laws.
Even if you despise the media, you should be rooting for better public record laws.
