Conclusion: The “Next Gen” Public Service

Chapter 5 closes the book with a discussion of the “next gen” public service. Even as Congress and the president embrace the regular reblending using the “reset and trade” system proposed in chapter 4, they must assure that the government-industrial complex embraces a continued commitment to public service, a mission that matters to the nation’s future, and a workforce that brings new vitality to aging institutions. Federal employees are going to retire in record numbers over the next decade, but their departures will not create a destructive “retirement tsunami” if Congress and the president act now to recruit and train the next generation of public servants wherever they work in the government-industrial complex.

A Proper Blending

Chapter 4 begins with a review of presidential proposals for reblending the government-industrial complex. The chapter starts with brief comparisons of presidential campaign promises and reform. This section argues that recent presidents have focused on “one-sided” reforms designed to show their commitment to smaller government. However, this opening discussion also argues that Obama was the first president since Eisenhower to understand the government-industrial complex and call for reform on both sides of the complex. Chapter 4 then introduces a sorting system for reblending the federal, contract, and contract workforces to guarantee that the right people are in the right positions at the best value with the highest performance and greatest accountability. Chapter 4 outlines a six-step iterative process for blending that starts with (1) resolving ambiguities, (2) taking social responsibility, (3) tracking the movement of functions between government and industry, (4) sorting functions, (5) resetting the cap, and (6) reinforcing the dividing line between government and industry.

Pressures on the Dividing Line

Chapter 3 explores the pressures that encourage government dependence on contract and grant employees. The chapter begins by reviewing Eisenhower’s call for a “proper meshing” between the military and industry. The chapter then explains the time, bureaucratic, and political pressures that increase the temptation to use contract and grant employees in lieu of federal employees. The time pressures stem from the federal government’s (1) sluggish hiring process, (2) aging workforce, (3) high promotion speed, (4) inflated performance appraisals, and (5) and changing mission. The bureaucratic pressures stem from (1) skill gaps in mission-critical occupations, (2) the barriers to federal employee engagement, (3) disagreements on how much federal and private employees cost, (4) weak oversight, and (5) a sluggish presidential appointments process. Finally, the political pressures arise from (1) the thickening of the leadership hierarchy, (2) the need to protect government achievements and fix breakdowns, (3) public trust and distrust toward government, (4) high levels of political polarization, and (5) cabal, intrigue, and corruption.

The True Size of Government

Chapter 2 provides detailed estimates of the total number of employees who work within the government-industrial complex. The estimates show the changing distribution of federal, contract, and grant employees between 1984 and 2015: the total government-industrial headcount held steady from 1984 to 1995, dropped sharply from 1995 to 1999, and accelerated to a forty-year high in 2010 before falling sharply by 2015 and holding steady in 2017. These patterns form the basis for detailed histories of the five administrations in office during the period and ends with an early snapshot of the Trump administration’s policy. The history compares inaugural promises with the eventual effects of each administration. The chapter also examines the key decisions that produced the rise, fall, rise, and then fall again in the true size of the government-industrial complex. The chapter ends with a history and assessment of the major personnel caps, cuts, and ceilings used to constrain federal employment between 1940 and 2017. This section ends with a discussion of the impacts of each action.

A Warning Renewed

Chapter 1 provides a broad history of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address and the author’s methodology for estimating the true size of the government-industrial complex workforce. The chapter begins with Eisenhower’s decision to deliver a nationally televised speech warning the nation of the grave threats created by the conjunction of an imperative, but immense military and armaments industry. The chapter explores the history of the speech and the president’s chosen words for characterizing the military-industrial complex. The chapter continues with a discussion of the method used for estimating the true size of the federal, contract, and grant workforces. The method converts federal spending into estimates of the full-time-equivalent contract and grant employment for use in side-by-side comparisons to the federal workforce. The chapter ends with a discussion of the data deficit surrounding the government-industrial complex and warns readers that all data have expiration dates, including the data used in the book.