The authors of a Fortune column proposed that the U.S. establish a working group on government reform
Economist Steve Henke and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker have proposed that the U.S. president issue an executive order to establish a working group on the transformation of the federal government. In a column for Fortune, they called for the development of a new system of fiscal rules, which they dubbed the “new fiscal constitution.”
The authors believe that the U.S. federal government has expanded excessively, taken on too many obligations, and lost control of the budget. According to them, for the first 140 years of U.S. history, the budget was constrained by two rules: the Constitution, which grants Congress 18 narrowly defined powers, and the informal practice of borrowing funds only during recessions and wars.
Henke and Walker also offered a critical assessment of previous government reform initiatives. They write that DOGE drew significant attention to problems within the government apparatus but failed to substantially achieve its widely stated savings goals. The authors also believe that the Fraud Eradication Task Force—which, they say, is led by Vice President Vance—is overestimating the expected savings.
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According to the authors, the new working group should involve experts from the public and private sectors who have experience with transformation efforts. It should evaluate the federal government’s activities in light of its constitutional role and assess the work of departments and agencies for compliance with their legally defined authorities.
In addition, Henke and Walker propose developing national performance indicators in the economic, diplomatic, security, and domestic spheres. According to their proposal, these indicators could be used by Congress, the executive branch, state governments, and local authorities for budget planning and performance evaluation. The working group could also recommend merging, eliminating, or transferring the powers of certain agencies to the states, as well as privatization, partnerships, or program expansion.
