OPINION:
One really positive thing that DOGE and the Trump administration did was to have government employees report their weekly activities — yet many people howled about it. Obviously, the point was to actually see what, if anything, some government employees were doing (or not doing.
While working on the Hill prior to the Republican takeover in 1994’s election, I heard plenty of rumors and innuendos about ’ghost’ employees. I don’t see why these people complained about having to write a weekly report on their job duties. When I worked for the House Administration Committee in the early 2000s, Franking Commission Chairman Rep. Bob Ney, Ohio Republican, had all of the committees’ employees write weekly reports of their work every Monday.
As part of the Franking Commission, each Monday I wrote a report on how many franking jobs (mailings, emails, phone calls) were submitted and approved by both Republicans and Democrats. Then I listed the relevant political subjects that had been submitted. This way, the chairman knew what Republicans were doing or not doing on subjects of importance and where and how Democrats were attacking them on various issues. It helped him determine what the party had to respond to.
Republican members, especially in a district that leaned close, were urged to send out “franked mail” to their congressional district. Then, each week, Chairman Ney would brief the speaker on these details.
RICHARD J. LANDON
District Heights, Maryland
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