Status Updates From Drain the Swamp: How Washin...

“Congress must require executive agencies to funnel all receipts from fees, fines, proceeds, and settlements into the federal fund of the treasury so that the power of the purse can be restored to the House of Representatives where it belongs.” No shadow government agencies with shadow budgets.

Well, this suggestion is being followed. “Trump can start draining the swamp by directing his administrative heads to follow through on his campaign promise of repealing two or three regulations for every new one enacted.”

“My first suggestion would be that President Trump rely less on executive orders and presidential directives - as he has pledged to do - than Barack Obama did…Real, lasting reform will come through legislative action and constitutional amendments that restrict federal power.”

Agencies are often self-funded by fees, so shutdowns don’t materially affect them. 2013: “The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, for instance, relied on frees for nearly 95% of its annual budget.” And 86% of DHS employees would remain employed regardless of funding during shutdown.

“The real partisanship in Washington isn’t between political part or about political principle; it is within parties, where leaders punish members who don’t play the game. In Congress, the consensus has been, it’s better to sink the nation with debt than rock the boat with reform.”

Great story in the preface about the grandson’s birth analogous to grandpa Buck entering Congress. “We were both stunned by our new surroundings, and unable to communicate with those around us about the gravity of our concerns.”