Carol Platt Liebau: Getting Back to Smaller Government

Monday, February 23, 2026

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal workforce is smaller than it’s been in half a century.

That’s good news.

Taxpayers will shoulder fewer obligations for the generous salaries, health benefits and pensions federal workers receive. But there’s a deeper point.

America was never meant to be governed from Washington. The Constitution established a federal government of limited, enumerated powers — leaving most authority to the states and the people.

As Washington has inserted itself into nearly every corner of American life, the federal payroll has grown.

Government works best when it’s close to the people — in states, cities, and communities — not in bloated bureaucracies in a distant capital.

The federal government should perform its proper functions well. And freedom-loving Americans should insist that power remain closest to them, where it can be watched, checked, and held accountable.

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