Editorial: Government must be reliable to function

The somewhat simplified diagrams in social studies textbooks and the catchy tunes of “Schoolhouse Rock!” have taught us a rudimentary idea of what society looks like and how government fits into that.

But civics classes and cartoon shorts on Saturday mornings did not give us an appreciation of how those different parts fit together. In fact, they rather gave the impression that each existed independent of the others. That couldn’t be less accurate.

The different branches of government must interact to function as checks upon each other. The different levels of government live and breathe on the lifeblood of circulating funding. So does the often-ignored additional area — the nonprofits that do government- sanctioned work with government-allotted money. And let’s not forget the people all of that governing and circulating and sanctioning is supposed to help.

On Monday, a memo from President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget threw much of the country into a state of confusion. It froze federal funding, with little direction on exactly what funding and what the impact would be.

The impact of the confusion alone was almost immediate. Universities — but more importantly students — had to sort out grants and loans. What about school lunch programs? What about child care programs? What about mental health or housing or domestic violence?

On Tuesday, the confusion was followed by a letter to federal employees inviting them to resign with a hefty buyout. This is the kind of thing you might see in the private sector. Elon Musk did it when he bought Twitter. But the rebranded X.com social media platform had more than 7,000 employees and dropped down to 1,500 to 2,500 or so, depending on reports.

The federal government is the largest employer in the country and in Pennsylvania. Look at the list of the state’s top employers to see how many others could be affected by federal revenue streams — from state government to universities and hospitals — and the potential impact is staggering.

County government relies on federal grants to pay for services to its people. That money has been calculated into the budget. In Westmoreland, that’s about 7%, or $28 million of the $416.8 million of revenue. Without that money, either the county pays more or the people get less. In Allegheny County, the number jumps up to $500 million.

Is Trump wrong to try to find ways to deliver more and spend less? Not at all. That should be the goal of every government leader.

But there must be an understanding of how the stroke of a pen impacts the people. A Musk-like housecleaning of employees could skyrocket unemployment numbers. A wholesale slamming of the door on federal spending can take programs already in peril and collapse them like a house of cards.

On Wednesday, OMB issued a new order, rescinding the previous freeze in two terse sentences: “OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded. If you have questions about implementing the President’s Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel.”

That is responsive to the problem, and the fact the White House did so in short order should be viewed favorably. But the lack of real information doesn’t remove confusion.

Our society, our governments and the branches thereof are not entirely independent. They are not separate rings in a circus. They are an interlocking body of gears and cogs and systems that depend upon each other to function. The state of Pennsylvania, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, their municipalities and their people must be able to depend on the federal government from one day to the next.