As a new parent, I have taken to scrutinizing everything in life, especially when it relates to my son. I remember walking down a pharmacy candy aisle last December and finding myself happy there were some candies advertising a lack of artificial food dyes like Red 40— a surefire sign of my own aging. But, that scrutiny, I believe, has made me a smidge wiser because it makes me think about how transparent whatever I am scrutinizing truly is.
That same mindset can be a great tool for the federal government to consider while cutting costs and reducing the overall size of the federal government. Scrutiny is key for these actions, but transparency is the utmost important facet of all of this. Without transparency, the scrutiny is moot because we don’t know what is being scrutinized or how it is being approached. So far in this young administration, though, after four years of smoke and mirrors, the transparency is refreshing.
President Trump entered office vowing to cut through Washington's rampant waste, fraud, and abuse — a promise that deeply resonated with the American people. Recent polls show an overwhelming 77% of voters support a “full examination of all government expenditures,” and 70% view the government as inefficient. Since January, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been pulling back the curtain on Washington's spending habits and the revelations have been shocking.
It was uncovered that $241 million of taxpayer funds went to transgender experiments on mice, $330 million in small business loans were issued to children under 10 years old, and $20 million was set aside for a Sesame Street show in Iraq (yes, really). These are just a few of the many blaring examples of the lack of stewardship of our taxpayer dollars. And, for the first time, Americans are seeing the receipts.
At the same time, trust in our government institutions has plummeted. By the end of the Biden administration in 2024, only 22% of Americans said they trusted Washington to do what was right. And after years of bureaucratic overreach, false promises, and blatant waste, who can blame them? It appears that former President Biden's autopen made more decisions than he did in his administration, and the literal receipts raise many questions about if he truly knew what he was signing.
At the beginning of his term, the Biden White House promised to usher in the “most ethical and transparent administration in history,” yet the only thing transparent was its failure to accomplish that. Biden pushed an unconstitutional student loan bailout, bypassing Congress and burdening taxpayers with hundreds of billions in debt that was only relieved by the Supreme Court stepping in. He imposed heavy-handed COVID mandates that cost Americans their livelihoods and their children more than a year of education. The southern border descended into chaos under his watch with record-high illegal crossings. This alone overwhelmed cities and allowed fentanyl to flood into our communities. [say something like] Through it all, the administration and the media told us up was down and put layers of obfuscation over the truth.
Slashing through decades of waste and rebuilding trust in a federal government that has misled its people seems like an impossible task. The real challenge isn't just what to cut, it's how to cut it. Some issues demand a decisive approach, like using an axe to chop off a limb to save the body. Others require a scalpel to remove the affected areas carefully and surgically. Knowing which tool to use is critical — you don’t bring a scalpel to an axe fight.
One example is the closure of the Department of Education. The education situation in America is one of the most critical issues we face today. Our children are falling behind on the global stage, and it’s showing in their own communities and classrooms. In the past four decades, federal spending on education has skyrocketed without improving student achievement. Despite per-pupil spending increasing by more than 245% since the 1970s, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that nearly 70% of 8th graders fail to meet math proficiency. This is a problem that, unfortunately, appears to require an axe rather than a scalpel. The Education Department’s size and complexity require the axe — the time for a scalpel has long passed.
Meanwhile, some instances require careful precision. Just last month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin shut down a Biden-era agency museum near the White House that cost $4 million to build and $600,000 a year to operate. The total number of visitors in 2024? Less than 2,000, according to Zeldin. Additionally, in February, Zeldin revealed that his agency under the Biden administration had thrown “gold bars off the Titanic” ahead of the second Trump administration. Those “gold bars” were the Green House Gas Reduction Fund doling out a staggering $22 billion to eight politically connected nonprofits. Zeldin said the administration used “climate equity” to justify these handouts to “their far-left friends.” These two incidents required a more surgical approach but further illustrate the disease the federal government is being treated for right now.
Scrutiny requires transparency, especially when it comes to the federal government. It appears that scrutiny is well-warranted, based on the amount of money and scope of the … “projects” we’ll call them, that were green-lit by the federal government under the previous administration. But, this transparency must be kept up — the siren’s call of secrecy can lead a government down a dangerous path.
Houston Keene joins Democracy Restored after a career working in Congress and as a nationally syndicated journalist covering politics, including the executive branch and government ethics. Houston was born in Austin, Texas, and is a proud father, husband, and Baylor Bear.