Advice for DOGE: Look at the Enumerated Powers

We’re within three weeks of the (hopefully) peaceful transfer of power. With the vacuum of leadership in the current administration, the world is already turning to President-Elect Donald Trump as the de facto leader, and change is underway. I expect there’s a lot more change to come.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is not a new government agency or entity; it is to be a commission to make recommendations, which, as I understand it, would then have to be followed up by the legislative or executive branches, depending on what a particular recommendation pertains to. It is to be co-led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Both are really smart guys. And Vivek, at least what I’ve heard from him, understands the Constitution pretty well. Elon has shown his ability to do nearly impossible things, one of which was to turn Twitter into X, with most of the employees gone, and make it now a much freer-speech platform. Maybe they can do the job.

A tweet Elon Musk put out in November, embracing the Doge meme
image that predates the creation of DOGE by more than a decade.

Here's what Wikipedia says about DOGE:

Musk has suggested that the commission could help to cut the U.S. federal budget by up to US$2 trillion through measures such as reducing waste, abolishing redundant agencies, and downsizing the federal workforce. Ramaswamy also stated that DOGE may eliminate entire federal agencies and reduce the number of federal employees by as much as 75%. DOGE may attempt to do this through re-enacting Schedule F. Musk has also proposed consolidating the number of federal agencies from more than 400 to fewer than 100.

It looks like a complicated and difficult undertaking—at which I hope they succeed.

While I have little expectation that advice from me will get to them, I offer it anyway. I’d like to streamline their process by suggesting that they simply go by the Constitution. If the power wasn’t granted to the federal government in the Constitution, then do away with that function.

We’ve looked at the limits of the Constitution before (specifically here, here, and here): the purposes in the Preamble, the enumerated powers, and then the just-to-make-sure-these-aren’t-ignored limits spelled out in the Bill of Rights. But we haven’t done it in the context of an actual, possibly imminent, opportunity to make it happen. So let’s review.

The Constitution’s Preamble, in bulleted form, gives us the mission statement for the federal government:

We the People of the United States, in order to:

·         form a more perfect Union,

·         establish Justice,

·         insure domestic Tranquility,

·         provide for the common defence,

·         promote the general Welfare,

·         and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

You could sum up this mission as to protect the people as a whole: to secure their life, liberty, and property. So anything else in the Constitution will be to make those things happen. Most notably, there are the enumerated powers, from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, spelling out for Congress what it can legislate, what the Executive can then administer and carry out, and what the Judiciary can then adjudicate on:

Article I, Section 8, is where you find most of the enumerated powers.

1.     The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

2.     To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

3.     To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

4.     To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

5.     To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

6.     To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

7.     To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

8.     To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

9.     To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

10.  To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

11.  To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

12.  To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

13.  To provide and maintain a Navy;

14.  To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

15.  To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

16.  To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

17.  To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And

18.  To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Article I, Sections 9, lists some limitations on the federal government, and Section 10 lists some limitations on the states.

Then there are a few more enumerated powers added as amendments to the Constitution:

19.  Thirteenth Amendment: To outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude (except as a punishment for crime), and to enforce this prohibition.

20.  Sixteenth Amendment: To lay and collect taxes on income—changing this from the original language in Article I, Section 8, which didn’t allow this type of direct tax.

21.  Fifteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments: To enforce equal voting rights laws across all the states.

It undoubtedly doesn’t take 400 agencies (and probably not even 100 DOGE set as their goal) to do these 21 things. That means the federal government is doing a whole lot that it hasn’t been given power by the people to do—including things that the people can’t rightly give to government (for example, redistribution of wealth: if an individual does it, it's theft; and so it is when the government does it).

So, for the benefit of DOGE, here’s a list of powers the federal government has NOT been given:

ü  Power to govern education.

ü  Power to offer charitable services (welfare).

ü  Power to force purchase of a service or product (such as health insurance).

ü  Power to forbid purchase of a legal service or product (such as gas-powered vehicles).

ü  Power to require payment into a retirement supplement (Social Security).

ü  Power to interfere with commerce that doesn’t cross state lines.

ü  Power to redefine marriage in a way that is contrary to long-standing law and tradition, and to enforce acceptance of the new definition, even when it violates personal religious beliefs.

ü  Power to subsidize any industry (such as alternative “green” energy).

ü  Power to target industries in accordance with a social agenda (gun manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, nuclear energy, oil and gas, fast food, or sugary drinks).

ü  Power to use taxpayer funds to support abortion, nor power to claim abortion as a federal right.

ü  Power to subsidize or control (or forgive) student loans.

ü  Power to take over any industry (as when the Obama administration temporarily took over GM and banks).

ü  Power to favor or disfavor individuals or groups for hiring, educational opportunities, or other purposes based on their race, religion, or ESG or other invented social score or category.

ü  Power to coerce a person to subject themselves to a particular medical intervention.

ü  Power to censor legal speech, or encourage or allow censorship by businesses as censors-by-proxy for the government.

 ü  Power to partner with businesses to accomplish by proxy what the federal government is not lawfully allowed to do.

ü  Power to commit US military lives and US treasure to fight wars not declared by the US Congress.

 ü  Power to use regulatory agencies to legislate, execute, and adjudicate laws within a single branch of government.

I’m sure that list is not exhaustive. But it’s enough to get DOGE started. Anything the government is doing that it has not been specifically granted the power to do—has to go.

The question will be how to cut: swiftly and completely, or more gradually but on a definite timetable with the end in sight (so a future administration can’t revive it). Personally, right now, I’m in favor of swiftly and completely. It’s working for Argentina right now. And we have reason to believe, not only will cutting mean less government spending, but it will free up all kinds of resources to be used for creating value that's currently being blocked from being created.

Exceptions to swiftly and completely might be where long-standing promises have gone into financial planning, wherein the government has deprived people of alternatives. Taking money out of paychecks for Social Security would be an example; you can’t take it out all those years, depriving earners of the use and investment power of their money, and then take away the promised, albeit inadequate, benefit. (COLA for Social Security benefits this year is 0.2%, in a high-inflation environment, which is clearly inadequate.) Then the question will be how to get us from the current mess we’re in to a constitution-abiding state.

DOGE could keep in mind this Spherical Model axiom:

Whenever government attempts something beyond the proper role of government (protection of life, liberty, and property), it causes unintended consequences—usually exactly opposite to the stated goals of the interference.

What DOGE has been tasked with will not be easy; but it is simple: limit the federal government to its proper role by abiding by the Constitution. I pray for them to take this rare opportunity and make the radical changes necessary to rescue our constitutional republic.

Handle Fire with Caution

Government is a tool similar to fire. It’s very useful when kept within careful limits. But if left to grow, it can do great harm.

Through most of history, in most parts of the world, government has leaped beyond a fire circle out into the forest, harming the very people who needed just a little of that power.

To some of us, the idea that the fire should be kept within safe boundaries makes natural sense. But there’s a substantial portion of the public who essentially say, “We need more fire. Go ahead and let it burn free. Sure, that’s been bad everywhere it’s been tried, but somehow we'll make it burn just right.”

We need to know the specific bounds to put upon government—and why. And then how.

Think of it as if you’ve just bought a new outdoor grill, one of those high temperature ones that can cook a steak perfectly seared outside without overcooking the inside. In other words, fire is involved. That means some danger. Really high heat. The possibility of getting burned. Fuel is involved.

When used correctly, you get delicious results, and the grill is a blessing to your life. When used casually or carelessly, it can cause burns. Maybe severe burns. Harm to people and environment. 

There’s a comic in the paper making fun of a guy, Crankshaft, who always has mishaps when he brings out the grill for the first time each summer. Some years all the neighbors require warnings. Some years the fire department is on call. Pretty much every year the grill explodes and shoots up into the sky. It’s a comic, so no lives our house are lost in the annual mishap. But you get the idea. What is supposed to be a useful management of fire turns out to be a danger.

Crankshaft comic from September 11, 2018

Often Crankshaft is found pouring lighter fluid on the grill. Too much. He doesn’t follow basic instructions or safety protocol.

If we’re looking at government as the grill—the way of using the fire for good—it would be a good idea to know enough to use it safely. We probably ought to carefully read the instruction book, and be experienced enough to understand basic safety rules such as using oven mitts and long-handled utensils to keep ourselves from getting burned.

We have an instruction book for our country. It’s the US Constitution. It’s short—about the length of a typical grill instruction manual. I keep a pocket version in my wallet.

But what did the Founding Fathers of America do before that was written—when there was “some assembly required” to come up with the right size government that would safely use the fiery power for good? They read a lot of the same things—as though they had all read the Boy Scout handbook on fire safety, plus related wilderness survival guides, and any other sources of wisdom.

The Founding Fathers were a diverse group, with a fairly wide range of educational sources, from somewhat random home tutoring and self-teaching, to a formal Harvard education. Yet, besides reading widely, they covered many of the same materials. You’d be hard pressed to find a founder who hadn’t read:

·         The Bible

·         Classic sources—in their original languages

o   Polybius

o   Cicero

o   Plutarch

o   Aristotle

·         Contemporary philosophers and historians

o   John Locke

o   Thomas Hobbes

o   Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations, published 1776)

o   Montequieu

o   Blackstone

o   Gibbons (Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I published 1776)

·         History

o   Greek and Roman

o   Anglo-Saxon

o   European

o   English

Books were still something of a luxury in the 18^th Century, and yet these men managed to find them in the frontier land of the American colonies—and find the best among many books. They shared them with one another. George Wythe suggested reading for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson advised and shared books with James Madison. Benjamin Franklin had a study group of friends who studied a wide range of information. While they didn’t all know each other, living in various colonies in times when travel was a bigger challenge than today. But their reading choices were surprisingly uniform. As if a divine teacher had laid out a curriculum for them.

We can be grateful that these men understood both the dangers of too much government power (i.e., coercion, force = tyranny) and just the right amount. Harnessing just the right amount of government power was risky—but it has led to the best outcomes in human history.

In our day, at minimum we should be reading our founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution. In addition, reading The Federalist Papers will give a fair amount of background to the thinking that went into the writing of the Constitution. These were newspaper editorials written mainly by Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. They didn’t always agree, but they shared the idea that federalism, or distributed power, would work. Then, to see opposing views (those who were very concerned about too much government), you can try The Anti-Federalist Papers, also newspaper editorials attempting to express the dangers they thought the federalists were not fully addressing.

A more contemporary book that addresses the issues the founders faced is Skousen’s The 5000-Year Leap. And I’ve previously listed other suggestions. 

There are resources on government that I think are plain wrong, and harmful; these are about accumulating power over the masses—the opposite of what our Founding Fathers were looking for. They might be worth reading to understand the opposition, however. These include Machiavelli and, closer to our day but surprisingly relevant, Marx and Engels.

Enough time has passed that, along with a good understanding of history, we can see that the work of our founders is not simply theoretical. We can compare.

Just a decade or two ago, Venezuela was the most prosperous, modern country in South America.

screenshot from Stuart Varney report on Venezuela August 2018

Today it looks like a war zone. But without a war. The result is the burn of too much government.

If you want to see the result of too much government even here in our country, take a look at Detroit. I wrote about that here. Last night a friend shared with us a video from early in Steven Crowder’s career, a short documentary on Detroit. And, in the spirit of supporting free speech, after he’s been censored online, I believe unfairly, I’ll end today’s piece with that cautionary tale.

Essentials of Freedom

The purpose of government is to protect our inherent rights to life, liberty, and property.

Life, because each human life has value. This is different from many societies throughout history that have seen some lives as more valuable than others, and some classes as sub-human and disposable.

Liberty, because that means we determine how we spend our lives—working at overcoming the natural state of poverty and ignorance. This means no slavery, no servitude without just compensation. No class is entitled to the services of people in another class simply based on their class.

Property, because it is the result of our labor, so it represents the exchange of a portion of our life—work that resulted in something useful to us. In the Declaration of Independence, we broaden this idea to the “pursuit of happiness,” which encompasses property as well as our choices in how we spend our lives to accumulate property, or wealth, or work toward any end important to us.

It is tyranny to take the life of the innocent, or to take the life of the guilty without due process of law. It is tyranny to coerce behavior, to require a person to work, not for that person’s own benefit, but for the benefit of the coercer. It is tyranny to take the property of a person without a free, fair exchange for that property.

These are the basic ideas behind the formation of our United States.

"Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States"
by Howard Chandler Christy, image from Wikipedia

Setting up a government to protect life, liberty, and property—without taking on other powers that would be tyrannical—was the careful purpose of the writers of the Constitution.

The Preamble to the Constitution outlines these purposes for the Constitution of the United States of America:

·         To establish Justice.

·         To insure domestic Tranquility.

·         To provide for the common defence.

·         To promote the general Welfare.

·         To secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

When there are disputes that infringe—or could infringe—on one person’s life, liberty, or property, the government can help justly settle that dispute. If there are problems between one region and another—a trade issue, for example—the government sets up standards of exchange and regular trade routes. When there are threats from beyond our nation, the government can protect our borders and sovereignty. When there are issues that benefit the people as a whole, such as certain infrastructure projects, the government can promote those projects. And having all this written and codified in law brought these things about for those who wrote the Constitution as well as for each generation that has followed.

Section I, Article 8 of the US Constitutiion

Article I, Section 8

This federal government, created by the founders and ratified by the people in the individual states, has powers strictly and carefully limited to what will specifically protect life, liberty, and property. And these powers are enumerated—spelled out. They’re all in Article I, Section 8 (plus a couple of additions by amendment). That means they all come under powers of Congress—where laws are made.

The judicial branch is to adjudicate laws duly created by Congress; the judiciary—including the Supreme Court of the United States—has not been granted power to make laws.

The executive branch is to execute the laws, to enforce them, to use the budget for those purposes assigned by the lawmakers. This will include common defense functions, such as directing the military as Commander in Chief, and arguably protecting our sovereignty with and domestic tranquility functions such as the FBI. But the executive branch does not have power to create laws.

The Enumerated Powers

We’ve listed the enumerated powers before [here and here], but it’s a good idea to repeat them from time to time, because it simplifies conversations about our government. It may not simply politics, which is about persuading people to allow assertion of power—whether an enumerated power or not, unfortunately.

Here’s the list:

1.       Lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises—uniformly throughout the US, for purposes of paying debts and for the general welfare (for the good of the country as a whole).

2.       Borrow money on the credit of the US.

3.       Regulate commerce (make it possible and regular) with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native America tribes.

4.       Establish uniform rule of naturalization (allowing people to become citizens).

5.       Establish uniform laws on bankruptcies.

6.       Coin money, regulate the value of US coined/printed money, and regulate the value of foreign money.

7.       Fix the standard of weights and measures.

8.       Provide for the punishment of counterfeiters.

9.       Establish post offices and post roads (mail system).

10.   Secure copyright and patent rights, to promote the progress of science, arts, writings, and discoveries.

11.   Constitute tribunals (courts) inferior to the Supreme Court.

12.   Define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.

13.   Declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal (license to act on the seas that would otherwise be considered piracy), and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

14.   Raise and support armies—but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.

15.   Provide and maintain a navy.

16.   Make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces (military bases).

17.   Provide for calling forth the militia (National Guard) to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

18.   Provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia (National Guard), and for governing any part that is in service to the US—reserving to the respective states the power to appoint officers and the authority to train the militia according to discipline prescribed by Congress.

19.   Exercise governing authority over the District (Washington, DC, an area not exceeding 10 square miles) as the seat of the government of the United States.

20.   Exercise governing authority over places purchased (by consent of the legislature of the state in which located) for erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings.

21.   Make al laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the US or in any department or officer thereof.

22.   Outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude (except as a punishment for crime), and enforcement of this prohibition.

23.   Sixteenth Amendment: Lay and collect taxes on income.

24.   Fifteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments: Enforce equal voting rights laws across all the states.

Listed Limitations

The limitations are not enumerated. However, just for the sake of security, some of the limitations are spelled out in the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments. So here’s a list of specifically mentioned things the government cannot do:

·         Establish a state-favored religion

·         Limit the free exercise of religion

·         Limit freedom of speech

·         Limit freedom of the press

·         Limit the right to freely assemble

·         Limit the right to petition for redress of grievances (file lawsuits over government wrongdoing)

·         Infringe on individual right to bear arms

·         Force citizens to quarter soldiers

·         Search or seize property without probably cause shown by warrant

·         Put person on trial for felony without indictment by Grand Jury

·         Put person on trial for same offence again after being found not guilty (double jeopardy)

·         Force person to testify against themselves

·         Fail to provide an accused with swift justice (speedy and public trial by jury)

·         Right to jury trial for property disputes over a certain threshold

·         Inflict excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishments

·         Construe anything in the Constitution to take any additional rights from the people

·         Assume any power not spelled out in the Constitution is left to the states and the people.

Usurpations

There are some powers that the federal government has been dabbling in—or outright taking over—that are not among the enumerated powers granted by law. This list of usurpations is not exhaustive:

·         Power to govern education.

·         Power to offer charitable services (welfare).

·         Power to force purchase of a service or product (such as health insurance).

·         Power to require payment into a retirement supplement (Social Security).

·         Power to interfere with commerce that doesn’t cross state lines.

·         Power to redefine marriage in a way that is contrary to long-standing law and tradition, and to enforce acceptance of the new definition, even when it violates personal religious beliefs.

·         Power to subsidize any industry (alternative energy, for example).

·         Power to target industries in accordance with a social agenda (gun manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, nuclear energy, oil and gas, fast food or sugary drinks).

·         Power to use taxpayer funds to support abortion.

·         Power to subsidize or control student loans.

·         Power to take over any industry (as when the Obama administration temporarily took over GM and banks).

·         Power to favor or disfavor individuals or groups for hiring, educational opportunities, or other purposes based on their race or religion.

We’ve offered this list before. Let’s add these:

·         Power to limit speech based on government’s approval or disapproval (interference with social media).

·         Power to gather data and use passive surveillance of innocent citizens in their private places.

All of these usurpations have happened because there was enough persuasion (lobbying of legislators, media manipulation of public opinion) claiming that there was a need, and that a good government would do these things for its people.

Proper Role of Government

But government isn’t intended to parent its people, nor to grant favors to subjects as a monarch would do. Government is only to protect life, liberty, and property, which will then allow the people to thrive according to their circumstances—which includes helping one another by charitable choice.

We know this:

Whenever government attempts something beyond the proper role of government (protection of life, liberty, and property), it causes unintended consequences—usually exactly opposite to the stated goals of the interference.

If people want the poor to have their dire circumstances relieved, or the people want an educated populace, or they want affordable and available healthcare—government attempts will cause the situation to get worse. It’s a given.

If you really want a problem solved that is beyond the proper role of government, the best way is to allow a free and righteous people to thrive in a free market and figure out how to help one another.

The political, economic, and social spheres are interrelated. Limiting the people’s freedom also limits their prosperity and civilization.