It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention but Donald Trump’s February 11th “workforce optimization” executive order provides a very clear framework for the end stage goal of all the cutting. After a bunch of specific imperatives listed under Section 3-C of that executive order, it includes the following language: government department and agencies must plan to cut “all components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or other law who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations as provided in the Agency Contingency Plans on the Office of Management and Budget website.”
If you don’t know what this means, you know that when there’s government shutdown the guys guarding the nuclear warheads don’t just go home and the FBI doesn’t close down. As the language notes there’s contingency planning that sets forth what’s essential and inessential in the case of a “lapse of appropriations.” The former is basically a skeleton crew version of the federal government. There’s that additional limiting language, “not mandated by statute or other law.” But most specific government functions aren’t narrowly mandated by statute. So this is more a catchall for exceptions, to make the EO more robust on judicial review, rather than something that significantly changes the overall picture. When you get down to brass tacks about what’s mandated there’s endless room for Elon-y interpretation, especially with a compliant judiciary. Like maybe the Social Security Administration needs to provide assistance to the public with its checks. It doesn’t say anywhere there need to be more than five people nationwide providing that assistance. The conclusion of 3-C, which comes after what I just quoted says: “This subsection shall not apply to functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement.” That makes sense because those are top administration priorities. But in almost every case those functions are already included in “essential”. So that language is basically meaningless.
This gives both a clear view of what the plan is and a map to let everyone know about it. What will it be like after they’re done? It will be like a permanent shutdown. That’s not hyperbole or a metaphor. It’s literally what they say in the executive order. I would think Democrats should be familiarizing themselves with the all the particulars of the OMB “essential” plan and basically campaigning on it. I mean, people will probably get a live subject run through on March 14th. But it’s still important to have that map. Those cuts are beyond draconian. And there’s no uncertainty. It’s spelled out exactly what is included.
