The War on Bureaucracy

Plus: Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, padlocked playgrounds, and more...

Bureaucracy cutting by the numbers: President Donald Trump and chief government auditor Elon Musk have set out to cut large chunks of the federal civilian workforce. So how are they doing?

Well, so far approximately 280 workers in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) roles have been axed. Some 9,000 employees have been affected by the dismantling of their agencies. About 75,000 workers have voluntarily signed up for the federal worker buyouts offered—so about 3 percent of the civilian workforce—per a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management.

The unions that represent federal workers have warned would-be quitters that the buyout offers might not be trustworthy and have also started filing lawsuits against the administration—somewhat odd behavior given that the buyouts provide pay through September and the alternative might just be getting axed altogether. (U.S. District Judge George O'Toole ruled yesterday that the unions did not have standing to bring the suit, so the buyouts resumed following the lifting of the pause.)

Musk reports that $1 billion worth of Education Department contracts have been canceled, including $101 million worth of DEI-related grants. The Institute of Education Sciences, which conducts research on things like student achievement and school safety, has been obliterated. Sen. Patty Murray (D–Wash.), a former preschool teacher, said Musk was "taking a wrecking ball to high-quality research and basic data we need to improve our public schools. Cutting off these investments after the contract has already been inked is the definition of wasteful."

Three things come to mind amid the freakout. One: Spending $101 million dollars on DEI grants strikes me as the truly wasteful thing. Do American taxpayers actually want that? Did we ever vote on that? Did those grants make our school system better?

Two: The federal government has historically been quite bad at tracking data that Americans need access to. "At the end of the [2020-2021] school year, there was no consistent source with national data on how schools had operated during the school year," wrote economist and researcher Emily Oster back in 2022. "Many district were missing information completely about whether they were virtual, in person or hybrid; some had limited information for only part of the year. The data that was there was missing or inconsistent." Oster and her team decided to compile it themselves, as did the folks at data firm Burbio, for good reason: "The consequences of school closures will likely be felt for years, probably decades," wrote Oster. "If we want to understand the consequences of these disruptions, we need systematic information on where they occurred."

Third: Just because the data has been tracked doesn't mean school districts actually course correct. Consider the literacy crisis: on-grade-level reading has been in steep decline in the country—but it's gotten so bad in part because it's taken parents and teachers a while to wise up to issues with the "balanced literacy" curriculum model vs. phonics-based instruction. A whole generation of children has been harmed by this, and the crisis could've ostensibly been averted sooner had federal, state, and local governments had their acts together.

Anyway, now Trump is reportedly mulling dismantling the department altogether, which would require congressional approval. Expect more hysteria if that happens.

A sober big-picture take: "The same people who predicted Donald Trump would be a dictator now say a 'constitutional crisis' has already arrived, barely three weeks into his Presidency. They're overwrought as usual, and readers may appreciate a less apocalyptic breakdown about Mr. Trump's actions and whether they do or don't breach the normal checks and balances," writes The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. "Mr. Trump's domestic-policy decisions so far strike us as falling into three categories. Most rest on strong legal ground. Some are legally debatable and could go either way in court. In still others Mr. Trump appears to be breaking current law deliberately to tee up cases that will go to the Supreme Court to restore what he considers to be constitutional norms. None of these is a constitutional crisis." Full thing is worth a read.

Israel and Hamas back on track: Earlier in the week, it looked like the very fragile ceasefire between the Israeli government and terrorist group Hamas would not hold. Now, it's back on track: 800 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza earlier today, and Hamas has reciprocated by assuring Israel it will follow through on its commitment to release more hostages.

Yesterday, Israel's defense minister warned that "all hell will break loose" on Hamas if they failed to follow through on the terms of the ceasefire deal. On Monday, President Donald Trump used similar threats, offering a Saturday deadline, to apply pressure on Hamas.

"Israel and Hamas agreed to a phased deal with the first phase consisting of a 42-day cease-fire and Hamas' release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners," reports The Wall Street Journal. "The second phase of the deal would see a complete end to the war and the release of the remaining living hostages. Negotiations for the second phase were supposed to begin about two weeks in but haven't begun. The first phase ends on March 1."

"Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem rejected 'the language of U.S. and Israeli threats' and called on Israel to implement the terms of the ceasefire deal," reports the Associated Press. "Among other claims, Hamas says Israel is not allowing an agreed-upon number of tents, prefabricated homes and heavy machinery into Gaza." He can reject them all he wants, but they appear to have worked.

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Scenes from New York: Ah, my illustrious city, padlocking playgrounds so 2-year-olds can't play on them.

Why is this goddamn city so obsessed with padlocking playgrounds pic.twitter.com/rOSMl41Msh

— Liz Wolfe (@LizWolfeReason) February 12, 2025

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QUICK HITS

• Following Elon Musk's comments earlier in the week about DOGE being maximally transparent, he has started populating its website with updates on what they've cut so far.

DOGE website is live! https://t.co/0ozFC0dYYD

Initial site:
1. X feed posts
2. Consolidated government org chart - enormous manual effort consolidating 16,000+ offices
3. Summary of the massive regulatory state, including the Unconstitutionality Index (ratio of rules written…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 13, 2025

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks set to be confirmed today as secretary of Health and Human Services. But why has there been so little organized opposition from Big Pharma? asks Politico. "'They think he's the wrong person for the job,' said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, one of the few groups to openly decry Kennedy's bid to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. 'With good respect to all my buddies, they're making the false assumption that if they stay silent, they will get something in return.'"
• "Eight of the federal agency watchdogs abruptly fired by President Trump last month filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging their terminations," reports Axios. "The plaintiffs argued that their terminations violated federal statutes meant to protect them from interference in carrying out their 'critical, non-partisan oversight duties.'" The plaintiffs include inspectors general of the Departments of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, Education, State, and Agriculture, as well as the Small Business Administration.
• Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii) was just confirmed and sworn in as director of national intelligence.
• The longtime president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Deborah Rutter, was recently fired from her post by an all-new board, mostly appointed by President Donald Trump. (Historically the board has stayed fairly bipartisan.) Now a new chair of the Kennedy Center has assumed power: The Donald himself. "It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!" celebrated Trump online. All of this is weird and monarchical, but perhaps the weirdest thing about it is that the Kennedy Center is funded via taxpayer dollars.
• What are the point of Trump's tariffs, exactly?

• Stop this nonsense right now!

???? The House budget would allow about $4 trillion more debt through 2034, with interest. ????

That makes our debt problem about 50% worse. https://t.co/5NzsSTinjz

— Marc Goldwein (@MarcGoldwein) February 12, 2025