“DOGE” Done Sensibly, the 1990s Version
In contrast to Elon Musk’s DOGE effort, there are sensible and time-tested ways to reduce the U.S. government bureaucracy. A look back to the early 1990s.
March 4, 2025
During Bill Clinton’s tenure as U.S. President, then Vice President Al Gore headed an effort to “reinvent government.”
The National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR) was launched in 1993 to make the federal government "work better, cost less and get results Americans care about."
By the end of Clinton’s presidency, more than 400,000 federal jobs and thousands of pages of regulations had been eliminated.
The total savings were around $140 billion — an impressive result, given that Clinton’s first federal budget was around $1.4 trillion.
Gore’s commission worked quietly — partnering with federal agencies asking them to identify positions that could be cut or reassigned.
The commission also worked with Congress to change laws where necessary — and did not get sued even once during its efforts.
Unlike the Clinton-era program, which took six months to make its recommendations, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has worked to shrink the government workforce immediately.
The Trump administration offered a deferred resignation plan to more than two million civilian federal employees — and convinced 75,000 to accept it before shutting it down.
The Trump administration has also ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees.
So far, DOGE claims to have saved approximately $105 billion — or approximately $652 per U.S. taxpayer.
Sources: Washington Post, CNN, CBS News, The Hill, DOGE, Reuters
Takeaways
In contrast to Elon Musk’s DOGE effort, there are sensible and time-tested ways to reduce the U.S. government bureaucracy. Just look back to the early 1990s.
The National Partnership for Reinventing Government was launched by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993. By the end of his presidency, more than 400,000 federal jobs and thousands of pages of regulations had been eliminated.
Unlike the Clinton-era program, which took six months to make its recommendations, Musk's DOGE program has worked to shrink the government workforce immediately.
