Pierce, one does not wax philosophical when one is about to be sent to Leavenworth…My God, that’s in Kansas.
Major Charles Emerson Winchester, III
M*A*S*H, “April Fool,” 1980.
I recalled this classic line from M*A*S*H after reading an interesting article in Reason last week. One of the least impressive members of a cabinet full of a pitiful members, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, announced he was moving his “official” home to Michigan. Perhaps ex-mayor Buttigieg is the just one of the earlier rats running from the SS Biden. But his move inspires Reason with an interesting idea:
Pete Buttigieg Is Moving to Michigan. He Should Take the Transportation Department With Him.
By Ira Stoll
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg…is changing his official residence to Traverse City, Michigan, and will vote there.
Here’s an idea worthy of the smart, innovative, bipartisan approach that got Buttigieg so much favorable attention during that presidential campaign: How about Buttigieg moves the Department of Transportation from Washington to Michigan with him? It would signal that the transportation future involves decentralization and rapid change rather than Washington-style command-and-control
Slightly off there. Buttigieg got great press first because he is a Democrat, and second, because he’s gay. Let’s clear the air on that.
As of April 2022, of the department’s 53,250 permanent and temporary employees, 7,599 of them were assigned to its headquarters. The Department of Transportation’s main building is a 2 million square foot Washington, D.C., palace designed by celebrity architect Michael Graves and completed in 2009.
A bipartisan, if contrarian, consensus is emerging around the idea that not all these jobs, and others like them, need to be in high-cost Washington. Especially with the rise of remote work, it’s increasingly feasible to put government jobs, and offices, in the heartland, where bureaucrats can be more in touch with middle America, and where taxpayers can save money by taking advantage of lower labor costs and real estate prices.
Absolutely true, the taxpayers will benefit with lower cost in terms of office space/rental, transportation, and other base life support. The bureaucrats will benefit from not having to pay the high cost of living of the D.C. area, not endure the miserable traffic (After seeing DC traffic, I don’t complain about Houston). Also, many people pay for private education for their kids as the DC public schools are a disaster. And with the recent experience with telework, a lot of the bureaucracy can work at least part time from home. I personally know some Social Security staff members who love remote work.
But it’s not just the Transportation Department. The Trump administration wanted to move 20% of the FBI’s Washington based staff to Idaho, Alabama, and West Virginia.
A 2016 article by the center-left writer Matthew Yglesias for the left-leaning site Vox was headlined “Let’s relocate a bunch of government agencies to the Midwest.”
“Moving agencies out of the DC area to the Midwest would obviously cause some short-term disruptions,” Yglesias wrote. “But in the long run, relocated agencies’ employees would enjoy cheaper houses, shorter commutes, and a higher standard of living, while Midwestern communities would see their population and tax base stabilized and gain new opportunities for complementary industries to grow…”
Not the only agency the Trump administration wanted to push out of DC. The Trump Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, moved two research agencies from the capital to Kansas City MO.
Lower cost of living, better schools, shorter commutes, a no-brainer. Right? Well, the bureaucrats didn’t like the idea:
After the relocation gutted their workforces, USDA research agencies struggle to rebuild
It’s been more than a year since the Agriculture Department gave some 550 employees at two of its major research bureaus an ultimatum: Move to Kansas City, Missouri, or leave the agency.
Many employees at the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture — between 40% and 60%, respectively — did leave, data from USDA shows.
And while ERS and NIFA have onboarded new people since the relocation occurred in October 2019, both agencies have struggled to rebuild their workforces and hire new people in the days since.
They’re both operating with roughly 30% fewer employees today than they were before the USDA relocation, according to recent data from the department.
As of Jan. 16, ERS had a total of 213 permanent employees on board, including 67 employees stationed in Washington. The agency has 115 vacant positions today, said Matt Herrick, a USDA spokesman.
At NIFA, the story is similar. The agency also has 213 permanent employees on board, including 16 stationed in Washington. A total of 130 NIFA positions are vacant, the department said…
Interesting. If these “scientist” believed their research was critical for “policy makers,” wouldn’t they stay around to insure the members of the congress get their “unbiased” input? After all, these are only “public servants” interested in supporting the “public,” right?
Distance is not the issue it used to be. During the Afghan and Iraq wars, I was on multiple secure (Secret level and above) teleconferences to coordinate operations between multiple continents. I think agricultural research won’t be adversely affected by the distance. Email, telework, Zoom, technology compresses space, making operations over distance very achievable.
But that is not what the bureaucrats want. They are part of the Swamp that is the District of Columbia, and they will not leave it without a fight. A point made, many of the senior bureaucrats resigned or retired, or tried to get other civil service jobs, rather than leave DC. Why? These bureaucrats are not being paid for “the truth,” but for surveys, research, etc., to back up what the Swamp wants.
One thing I have learned over the years, no bureaucrat is essential. The question is, are they worthless, or slightly less worthless? Hate to shock these government workers, you croak tomorrow, you won’t be missed by the weekend.
I think Reagan had a great idea after firing over eleven-thousand striking air traffic controllers. He barred them from future federal employment. The head of PATCO ended up selling real estate in Florida. A reminder to these bureaucrats, they work for the people of the country, not for the Swamp.
Trump and others had a great idea, keep pushing the Swamp out. It needs to be cut (Do we need a Department of Education, or Veterans Affairs (It was part of Defense for ages)), spread out, and neutered as much as possible. Moving agencies out of DC is a great first step. Unfortunately I don’t see that happening with Biden, but we can only hope after 2024, these efforts continue.
Michael A. Thiac is a retired Army intelligence officer, with over 23 years experience, including serving in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Middle East. He is also a retired police patrol sergeant, with over 22 years’ service, and over ten year’s experience in field training of newly assigned officers. He has been published at The American Thinker, PoliceOne.com, and on his personal blog, A Cop’s Watch.
Opinions expressed are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers.
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I guess it depends on the game you’re looking to play and the objectives you have. I suspect though that there is no set of moves in the incremental game that won’t be undone before we get to our end-game and significantly shrink the federal government.