A general feeling of disconnectedness exists between Americans and their Federal Government. This is particularly true in what the bi-coastal crowd calls ‘flyover country.’ The Federal Government appears cold, distant, and impotent to address or solve the issues impacting people's lives. This played out most recently with many Citizens living in Appalachia in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. However, that is not the only instance. It echoes the feelings and comments of citizens in East Palestine, Ohio and Lahaina, Hawaii.

Those connected to the power structures in D.C. and in the east and west coast urban centers may pan these concerns as more perception than reality, but it is a general feeling that seems to be growing. The feeling is continually reinforced by the rhetoric and actions of the civil servants in the Departments and Agencies in Washington, D.C. While a much-circulated video of the Federal Emergency Management Agency discussing “disaster equity” did not show an actual disaster preparedness meeting, it still showed a horrific lack of empathy for American Citizens. The fact that a bureaucrat unabashedly talked about shifting any Federal program, let alone emergency management, away “from utilitarian principles” and providing the “greatest good for the greatest amount of people” to “disaster equity” is appalling. What’s even further shocking is that no one in the group had the moral courage to say, ‘What are you talking about?’  Were the Americans in Marshall, North Carolina or East Palestine, Ohio not deserving enough for prompt emergency response and assistance? 

It is not just in emergency response. The same duplicity exists in the Federal justice system. The application of Federal law is proportional to your connection and utility to the power structures in Washington, D.C. That is apparent in the case of Kevin Clinesmith. As an attorney, an officer of the court, working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he lied about evidence used to secure a surveillance warrant on an American Citizen from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. His punishment? He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 400 hours of community service. Contrast that to the almost Jacobin-like fervor the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice employed against people who trespassed in the Nation’s Capitol on January 6^th. The DOJ charged Rebecca Lavrenz, the so-called “J6 Praying Grandma,” on four federal misdemeanor charges and a potential year in prison and $200,000 in fines. Her offense? She entered the Capitol for ten minutes and prayed. Does that warrant a harsher and more vigorous prosecution than a government lawyer that lied on a subpoena?

Granted, anyone who rioted, destroyed property, or assaulted police officers at the Nation’s Capitol deserves rigorous prosecution. Yet the DOJ and FBI lacked the same vigor to pursue and prosecute the organizers and perpetrators of massive riots by BLM and ANTIFA that objectively caused more death and damage to public and private property than January 6.

Showing the inherent duplicity, FBI Agents while on duty kneeled in solidarity with BLM and ANTIFA rioters, possibly in violation of the Hatch Act. FBI leadership coyly lauded the move. Would the same standard apply had they kneeled on January 6? Definitely not.

Disconnectedness is also evident in the Federal Government’s interaction with private commerce. The National Marine Fisheries Service felt a necessity to monitor the herring fishing industry. Instead of securing Congressional funding for the program, the bureaucracy felt empowered to pass the costs of the program onto private commercial entities. They imposed a tax of approximately $710 per day on each fishing vessel to pay for the privilege of Federal oversight. The edict smacked of the Colonial Stamp Act against the then British Colonies. How do private enterprises thrive with this sort of ‘oversight?’ 

Many civil servants faithfully live up to the oath of office they swore to. They work diligently on behalf of their fellow Citizens in their assigned function.  Arguably the disconnect between the Federal Government is born out of the general hubris and sense of arrogance in the culture of the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia). A type of group think develops that solutions for everyday problems start and end inside the Beltway. Peter Strzok, the disgraced Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent, is undoubtedly the quintessential icon of the smug Beltway hubris. He famously remarked to his paramour while visiting a Wal Mart in southern Virginia that he could “SMELL the Trump support.” His aristocratic sense of self-superiority precluded him from mingling with the subjects.

So, what is the fix to restore the faith and credibility of the Federal Government? If elected, former President Trump plans to initiate a commission led by Elon Musk to look at efficiency in the Federal Government. Musk recently stated he believes such a commission could eliminate $2 Trillion in Federal spending. The first level of analysis of this task-force should look at functions. What Departments and Agencies duplicate each other’s services? Does the Federal Government still need 18 different agencies for intelligence? Perhaps it is necessary, or more likely, throughout the Cold War we built redundant and duplicative capabilities and no one has questioned their necessity anymore. Next, what functions, currently controlled at the Federal level, could gain efficiency by delegating them to states. This is the ideal nature of our Constitutional Republic and was the intent of the Founding Fathers. It affords more local control and places accountability in State Capitols with elected officials from our citizen’s own neighborhoods. The growth of the mega-centralized Federal government that started with FDR requires a review and potentially rebalancing.

A second necessary step is to evaluate what Departments, Agencies, and Bureaus should remain in D.C. It makes sense that any Department, Agency, or Bureau focused on National Security should remain in proximity to the Chief Executive. Other entities could disperse through the rest of the country. The COVID lockdown demonstrated the power of modern technology for distributed meetings and productivity. Every government employee is familiar and comfortable with Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other teleconferencing platforms. The idea of a Nation’s Capital focused on every function of governing and co-located in one geographic area is outdated.

Perhaps the Department of Agriculture should move to Omaha, Nebraska or Des Moines, Iowa near the center of U.S. agribusiness. Or the National Marine Fisheries Service could move to Bangor, Maine or Astoria, Oregon. Maybe the Department of the Interior should be somewhere in the interior, such as Salt Lake City, Utah or Denver, Colorado. If the civil servants drafting these policies and regulations had to live among the population impacted by their decisions, it would force more ‘common sense’ into their thinking. Currently a civil servant crafts policies in a corner office in D.C. and commutes home to live somewhere in the DMV among other civil servants. Imagine if the person crafting the policy lives in the same neighborhoods, has kids in the same youth sports leagues, or worships with the Americans impacted by the policy it would force more ‘common sense’ into our governance. Thomas Paine would concur!