While it might make sense to retain some rules, such as those to protect whistleblowers, many of the regulations seem unnecessary. Some regulations are thinly-veiled attempts to set social policy. Why should government have a different policy than the private sector? And notably, many of the rules are designed to benefit specific groups, such as small business, women, minorities or veterans, which increases federal costs. This may be a sledgehammer when what we need is a scalpel. Or maybe acquisition rules, civil service protections and other regulations have grown too unwieldy for the knife and only radical surgery can restore effectiveness. Either way, given the huge costs involved, policymakers should give more thought to creating a more flexible government bureaucracy.
