2mo ago

Mike Johnson aiming to ax 75 percent of federal agencies

www.independent.co.uk Mike Johnson aiming to ax 75 percent of federal agencies

House Speaker pledges to ‘take a blowtorch to the administrative state and reduce the size and scope of government’

Summary

House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to cut 75% of federal agencies, reducing them from 428 to 99, in collaboration with Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), led by Vivek Ramaswamy.

Johnson’s agenda includes defunding PBS, Planned Parenthood, and curbing the “administrative state” through legislation and executive orders under Donald Trump.

Critics warn such cuts would impact jobs, healthcare, and essential services.

Backed by recent Supreme Court rulings limiting agency authority, Johnson and DOGE aim to reduce federal regulations, sparking significant debate over these drastic proposals.

84 comments

It just blows my mind how evil these people are. They put all this destructive effort into everything they can think of 24/7, with little to no creation of anything with benefits.
They're little evil toddlers just smashing everything they can get thier mitts on.
- Evil is relative
  They’re pretty good on team Russia
  
  Yeah they're doing exactly what Russian oligarchs pay them to do

You know how people look back at history and go "the situation back then wasn't perfect, but the idiotic way some in power tried to fix it just made it soooo much worse!"...
Yeah, this is the next step up in the current cycle of this. In centuries to come anyone who is ~~about~~ able to reflect on things will not look at Johnson et al at all favorably.
- in the centuries to come, the beings that replace humans won't know who the fuck mike johnson was.
  
  My original comment was supposed to say 'able' not 'about'. Because I had the same thought as you.
  
  Nah humans will exist, we are cockroaches.
- They're not trying to fix anything, just keep people down while they rape and plunder.

start with yourself, cunt.
- Calling him a cunt is an insult to cunts.
  
  Depth, warmth, etc

Isn't that like several hundred thousands of employees? Suddenly unemployment will be sky high and you think health care CEOs are going to be looking over their shoulders now? Just wait. Mike will need his own presidential security detail to just look outside.
- You won't have any agency recording unemployment levels, so there will be no details about it. All you need to know citizen is that the Trump leadership is flourishing as it enters its 6th term, and all your problems that you experience are because of minorities.
- There are roughly 2 million US government employees. So 1.5 million people unemployed? Which wouldn't send unemployment sky high, but pretty high.
  
  1.5 million in direct unemployment, but consider the knock on unemployment for all the services those workers won't need. Coffee shops, dry cleaners, parking lots, Uber/Lift drivers, childcare, etc. Employed people pay for services while employed that are directly tied to that employment and those businesses will also layoff their workers when these jobs disappear
  
  1.5 million people who know how the system works hell bent on fucking over one shitty human.
  
  You gotta add the state agencies who are supported by federal agencies. So like 50 -100k for every red state.
  
  Does that 2 million include contractors?

Sounds like a CEO move. Anyone on his street?
- When does he get finished with his shareholder meeting?

If this happens there would be a blue wave that took over and would spend the next 4+ years trying to reduce the bleeding which is long enough for many non politically engaged people to forget it was the republicans that started it, who would then blame the Democrats for screwing up the economy .
- This hurt to read. Because you're not wrong

The wrong people will die due to how callous, and/or stupid the trump administration will be.
- Some of the right people, but mostly none of the people who made the bad and wrong choices
  
  I don't know, man. There are a LOT of guns floating around out there to be making people desperate.
  Just ask the United Healthcare CEO about making decisions that affect people's lives negatively.
  Oh wait.....

Ah yes the old "government so small they can drown it in a bathtub" plan. They want all this cut. But also want to police abortion and trans people. Small but only in the areas they want.
- There are people who, disturbed by "big government" today and its tendency to curb the advantages they might gain if their competitiveness were allowed free flow, demand "less govern- ment." Alas, there is no such thing as less government, merely changes in government. If the libertarians had their way, the distant bureaucracy would vanish and the local bully would be in charge. Personally, I prefer the distant bureaucracy, which may not find me, over the local bully, who certainly will. And all historical precedent shows a change to localism to be for the worse.
  —Isaac Asimov, Nice Guys Finish First, collected in The Sun Shines Bright, 1981

You're going to have to take care of yourself, and those around you. You should be prepared to !resist@fedia.io
- Americans better learn compassion. Our survival depends on it.
  
  We must show CEOs and the powerful the same compassion they show us.
  
  Americans, as a whole, have actively rejected compassion. Survival now depends on cunning.
- I guess I'm prepared to prepare to resist...
  
  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Cool. So, like the ATF, the DEA, the IRS, and the NSA?
What, not those agencies? Curious.
- Why the fuck would you want the IRS to get the axe? They get shat on by the GOP for the express purpose of starving them, so they can't go after the wealthy
  
  The Department Of We Already Know What Taxes You Owe But Are Waiting To Punish You For Guessing Wrong On Your Paperwork?
  They already don't go after the wealthy, and they basically never have. At this point the IRS basically just exists to harass the poor and uneducated. A block of wood could come up with a better way for the federal government to collect taxes.

As an outsider looking in, I am wondering whether this might mean that the Republican party has a vision for a weaker federal government, such that the states would have more, well, rights. I.e., if the federal government gets very scaled down, is that at the same time emptying up the regulatory space for individual states to go in all sorts of different directions, or does it come with some kind of libertarian straightjacket?
The majority of the US population lives in wealthy blue states. If the regressive rural states can't stomach the kind of extensive welfare state that makes sense in more urbanized places, fine. Like a "two speed Europe", they can choose to stay behind, so long as California, Massachusetts, NY etc get the freedom to experiment with social democratic policies.
Edit: this kind of more decoupled federalism also exists eg in Canada. Quebec gets to pretend it's France while Alberta gets to pretend it's Texas.
- In effect they want states to be able to do what they want, as long as it aligns with Republican ideals. All you need to do is look at their rhetoric towards sanctuary cities for the "states rights" argument to fall apart.
  Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: there must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
  -Frank Wilhoit
  
  Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: there must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
  -Frank Wilhoit “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” ― John Kenneth Galbraith
- Our dumbfucks fucks here in Quebec are increasingly leaning towards the Americanization of Canada.
  I've seen so many people talking about how it would be cool to be the 51st state when he met Trudeau.
  
  As an American, I urge you to fight that effort, in a serious way. America rocks, but also sucks in several major fuckin' ways.
  Good luck, stay Canadian and keep up the mutual love.
- Oh no. It's entirely so they can do stupid shit. They'll happily ax 75% of agencies and set the DOJ to making sure Blue States don't just do it on their own. We've seen this play out in some red states already where they forfeit any regulation on a subject and then ban the blue cities from doing it themselves.
- Wait until the override the posse comatatus act. The. It will be clear. They plan to make money slaves out of blue states.
  
  I have no idea what that means.

Ax thyself firstly foul hypocrit

Republicans wanted Milei style austerity and American voters wanted Republicans.
We all get what America voted for and good luck with that economy there.

Easier said than done. Dems can use the fillibuster and a lot of gutting of federal agencies require going through a budget committee as well. Things move slow in congress and they have 2 years to slash everything...
- Who are the Dems? Never heard of them
  
  I think that’s the party that is paid to loose…

Seeing as how there's a growing dissent toward politicians and health-care CEOs, maybe bringing up axes isn't the smartest thing right now?
Of course I'm joking, but 75%? Why not an equally plausible number like 120% of federal agencies?
- This is typical melee weapon escalation. First they came for my axe. Then they came for my zweihänder. Finally they came for my quarter staff.
- There are no consequences if it's legal.

At that point you have to ask, why not 100℅?
- They need the departments that make people's lives more miserable: ICE, DHS, FBI, NSA, etc.

Such a punchable face.

We got to vote these corrupt politicians out in 2026! If we can get enough Democrats into office then that means Trump can be impeached.
- I can't tell if you're joking. Your comment is making me have 2017 flashbacks
  
  What else are we supposed to do? I wish Biden would use his powers to stop Trump now but if he doesn't we can either be stuck with Trump for 2 years or be stuck with him or 4 years or more. Getting a big blue majority in 2026 would stop Trump faster.
- L O L
- Lol wasn't he impeached twice last time?
- And they'll all live happily ever after. Grow up.

It’s a libertarian wet dream…. That will fuck over regular people for decades…

If they actually start doing this, none of them will be in office in 4 years.
- I don't think they're planning to have elections again...
  
  I agree. I didn't mean they would be voted out.

Mike Johnson and the boys about to break things they don’t understand to look cool for mouth breathers, making the rest of us suffer for decades.

MAGA Mike can eat my Johnson.

Dave! You need to get an A on your next 5th grade math test! It goes on your permanent record. You'll have to check it out later when we go to get out eBay shipment at the central intelligence agency, the DMV!

84 comments