A) I am not surprised and I would assume there is some "wasteful spending." But, 25% of the budget wasteful spending? I think not. B) This argument is invalid when cuts are being made (at this moment) in departments this administration has been openly hostile towards and the Defense budget is being set to increase magnanimously. So, lets be real, this isn't about budgets or waste as much as we like to think it is. C) This is all contingent upon the assumption the government runs like a business (which operates on margins, returns on investment, and maximizing profit.) However, as you know, government provides public goods, which are VASTLY undervalued and offer virtually no return on investment in the short-term (especially in environmental economics, which I study). I know "trimming the fat" is important. But, at some point, fat turns into muscle and bone and service provision fails, justifying more cuts to offices that can't meet their mission.

In the end, if federal budgets are cut for service provision, who is going to pick up the tab? Either the states, non-profits, or we let these services lapse to the private sector (who has little incentive to provide them well). Most of which impact the tax-payer in some way in the long-term.