It seems the Republicans have won the
presidency and control of the Senate and look to have narrowly*
retained control of the house. This means Trump will be able to
replace any retiring or expiring justices on the Supreme court with
younger people over the wails of sorrow and despair from the left.
It's something.
It looks right now that the Republicans
have added 3 seats to their majority in the house, so no more
impeachments. A republican win like this, in the past, meant, well,
nothing. The traditional Republicans would pass continuing
resolutions on the budget, and wobble on everything else, proving
their position that the government couldn't actually do anything.
The possibility of real change exists,
perhaps.
Government employees are traditionally
immune from downsizing for any reason at all. Thus the government
grows at about 6%/year weather we need it or not. OTOH, if a
department or agency is simply erased, the employees in it will find
themselves unemployed for no reason at all, and will be forced to
find other employment on their own merits. Initially, many will
simply move to another agency. If the erasure policy continues,
however, this will become more difficult.
My question is what is required to
eliminate a department or agency from the government? Ronald Reagan
remarked that a government agency was the closest thing to
immortality you would find in this world. Congressional approval is
required before anything can be downsized or discarded. Congressional
approval is directly proportionate to the amount of money the agency
drops in a congressional district. The way around this is to point
out that the monies sent to a district, were originally taken from
that district, and skimmed about 20% before being sent back.
Eliminate the agency, keep your money, and eliminate the baksheesh.
Makes sense, sounds good, get re-elected, sure! Hopefully Elon Musks
persuasive skills will be up to this job.
*Very narrowly. Getting good info on
this is difficult at best.