Things I’d Like to See a New Chief Executive Do

See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In February of 2016, I posted the following tweet:

Eliminate:
HHS
HUD
Ed
Energy
Transpo
Labor
Commerce
Ag
Interior

— ScottO30 (@gscottoliver) February 18, 2016

Since these are all departments of the Executive Branch, it seems to me a Chief Executive could eliminate them whenever he or she wished to do so. To create a new department, as George W. Bush did in 2002, the President must go to Congress to get money appropriated for it. But to terminate one? It would simply mean that any unused budget it had would remain unspent, and that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

In reverse order of their creation, I believe we should eliminate the following U. S. government cabinet departments:

• Education
• Energy
• Transportation
• Housing and Urban Development
• Health and Human Services
• Labor
• Commerce
• Agriculture
• Interior

Any legitimate Federal functions can be moved to an appropriate Department that is left: State, Treasury, Defense, or Justice.

I would leave the Veterans Administration separate from Defense, as the latter’s responsibility is active defense of the nation, while the former is charged with taking care of the people who have served the nation in that capacity.

I would even suggest that the Department of Homeland Security is redundant, and its important functions should be moved to Defense or to Justice, as appropriate.

Finally, the White House lists the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, and the United Nations Mission as separate entities. I submit that neither of the first two have any place at a Federal level. If the Federal government didn’t confiscate resources at such a high rate, States and Localities would have plenty to deal with any violations of their citizens’ right to life. And in my opinion, the United Nations does more harm than good, and the U. S. should withdraw from it (and maybe raise its rent).