Spread the swamp? Trump administration wants to move government offices out of Washington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the Pentagon moving?

Why not? I nominate Peoria, Illinois as the new seat of military power.

Peoria has Cat and is doing ok.

How about Detroit? It’s broke and the Pentagon will be well placed to guard against the invasion of marauding Canuckistanians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Note that only 15% of the federal workforce is in DC. Government offices are already spread out around the country.

Given that the treasury is apparently going to be lacking in money to spend on things like CHIP because of the tax bill, it seems the height of hubris to say we should spend millions of taxpayers' dollars to move agencies at this point in time just to make a political point/photo op. So much for being fiscally conservative.

Not to mention the inefficiencies.
From an organizational POV it makes sense to have agency HQ near Congress and the Executive Branch and to have regional, state and local field offices for agencies that provide direct services to the public (Social Security, VA etc.)
Agree that this stinks a little like Ryan Zinke's approach to running professional civil servants out of the Interior Dept by transferring them to far away places. It could also be a way to pay off swamp denizens in red states. If your district voted for Trump you get a brand new federal agency HQ.
This is one more sign of the admin trying to turn a professional civil service into one based on political patronage.

[Anonymous]

I am a Fed and I would actually be delighted at the prospect of moving to an area with a low cost of living.

Therefore, this will NEVER happen.