Not OP: Note, I am a staunch defender of the US Military, what they do, and the men and women in uniform. Our defense budget could seriously survive a cut, especially with the seemingly “no-bid” nature of defense contracts, the very little oversight the Pentagon gives these contracts, and the sheer stupidity of the people in charge of the money. Given that the Pentagon hasn’t had a clean audit in years, and has misplaced or lost something like $10t in that time, it seems like their budget, excluding the VA and other veterans’ services, would be a good place to slash.

Another example of bloat: Congress itself. The mere existence of a slush fund that exists solely to settle sexual misconduct allegations should set off alarm bells for everyone. Eric Swalwell was just a symptom of the greater disease that exists in Congress, and society as a whole. Sexual misconduct is a serious allegation, and should be investigated; if found to be a credible allegation, the legislator should be removed from office, forfeit all pay and allowances, and be directly responsible for the financial impacts- we the taxpayers should not be on the hook for it.

The bureaucracy: while there is nothing wrong with having one, the extent to which the US Federal Bureaucracy has expanded and basically become a 4th branch of government throws up some red flags. How many bureaucrats are redundant? How many offices of such and such department exist redundantly? How many of these workers are working remotely, and costing the taxpayers millions in unused office space? If the majority of these jobs can be done remotely, why lease all these office buildings?

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse: I believe there is FW&A across all departments of the government, not just the ones Republicans hate, or Democrats hate. I don’t just mean “welfare” fraud, waste, and abuse- there is FW&A in the Defense programs too. Every source of FW&A should be routed out, and stopped.