Shutterstock.com

Reconstructing the Administrative State

Five ways to recover from the shutdown.

We are seasoned observers—and sometime participants—in the federal bureaucracy. We share a conclusion: This truly awful government shutdown must never, ever happen again. But, perhaps even more important, we believe this: We must begin—now—to repair the incalculable damage that it has inflicted on the government on which so many Americans have discovered they depend. The costs, both to the economy and federal operations, for this latest shutdown run into the billions, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.

Even the shorter shutdowns of the past have cost the government billions of dollars. Analysts have estimated that Super Bowl distractions cost private companies $29 million a minute. For federal government shutdowns, the costs run into the tens of billions of dollars—shutting government down, gearing it back up, trying to manage the enormous disruptions to an incredibly wide range of important operations, and damaging the overall economy. Those costs cascade through the vast armies of contractors and grantees who do much of the government’s work.

But this time it’s even worse. We’ve discovered that the government does important stuff. It’s stuff that the American people want done. And it’s government that does it. The shutdown cost airlines tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue. Air traffic controllers worry that safety has deteriorated by the day. Everything from food inspection to food stamps to school lunches has been at risk. FBI agents have curtailed investigations, lost undercover sources, and couldn’t get into terrorism information-sharing computers. The federal courts worried about running out of funds and had to limit civil trials and investigations.

And the sight of uniformed federal workers in soup kitchens and food pantries is simply pathetic, in a country that prides itself as the world’s leading democracy.

Here’s the salient fact: The job of government policymakers is to decide what policies to make. Once they make them, their solemn obligation to the country is to fund these policies. Once they fund the administrators in charge of carrying out the programs, their job is to support them in transforming policy into results. It is unconscionable to make the government and its employees into proxy targets for big policy decisions that elected officials cannot—or will not—own up to.

It is equally unconscionable to play games by defining what is “essential,” in popular parlance, by choosing to keep some operations open and close others down, often based on who has the most political juice. It is beyond unconscionable to require employees to work, for weeks, in jobs that truly are essential, like air traffic controllers and Secret Service agents, but not pay them.

This craziness has to stop—and it should never be repeated. Here’s a checklist of five solutions.

First, we don’t have to suffer through this political theater. Many states have budget rules that allow them to continue to operate, at current levels, until their legislatures pass a new budget. Congress should set up the same rule.

Second, we always talk about running government more like the private sector, and the private sector’s biggest lesson is this: An organization’s biggest asset is its workers. The federal government needs to treat its own workers that way and begin—immediately—to rebuild the trust of its employees. The government must make a pledge never again to treat its employees as pawns in a game that isn’t about them.

Third, the federal government needs to make itself an attractive place to work for younger employees. The federal workforce is much older than its private sector counterparts. There’s an enormous number of federal employees eligible to retire, and they’re likely to do so in large numbers after this fiasco. On the other hand, the number of younger workers in the federal workforce is very low—the British government has twice as large a share of employees under the age of 30. The federal government has to fix its hiring system and create an environment that doesn’t chase away the very employees it most needs.

Fourth, the federal government needs to reskill its existing workers for the jobs of the future. It won’t be able to hire new employees fast enough to help the government keep up with the skills the information age demands. And if it doesn’t reskill the workforce it has, the government simply won’t be smart enough to govern.

Fifth, the federal government needs to make right its relationships with its contractors and grantees. We are no fans of the explosive growth of contractor government, with contractors often performing many essential government functions that should be reserved for government employees. But a blended workforce is the inescapable reality and it often works well—if government is smart enough to manage it well. However, an unintended consequence of the shutdown is that the federal workforce has been damaged and the number of contractors is certain to grow, not because it’s the right way to do business but simply to replace the government employees who have been forced to resign just to survive. The contractors, in turn, are going to be harder to find because they haven’t been guaranteed lost wages, even though government workers will eventually get their back pay.  

These insane dilemmas mean that the government is going to have an even harder getting the talent it needs, and government’s performance is sure to suffer. As we eventually emerge from this madness, we not only ought to commit to ensuring it never recurs. We must learn the lesson it teaches: The people’s government depends on the people who work for the government, and we need to make sure the government has the people we need. A laser-like focus on building the workforce is the unshakable solution to the lessons the shutdown has so painfully taught.

Steve Bannon offered the view that the administrative state must be “deconstructed.” If we’ve learned anything, it’s that the administrative state does things we want done—but that we must reconstruct it. The people live with the government they have asked their representatives to provide. Both Republicans and Democrats have a clear stake in effective government. And both parties have learned there’s a terrible cost for creating a theater of the truly absurd that only ends up punishing everyone.  

Donald F. Kettl is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs and author of Can Governments Earn Our Trust? Paul Verkuil is former head of the Administrative Conference of the United States and author of Valuing Bureaucracy: The Case for Professional Government.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.