To the Journal editor:

Looking back 40 years, phones were still on the wall, the internet was mostly a concept, Ronald Reagan was president, and “Ghostbusters” was the biggest box office hit.

In 1984, the U.S. economy was just barely over $4 trillion (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDP), and the U.S. population was around 237 million.

The federal government, our nation’s largest employer, had 2.92 million employees (https://statista.com/statistics/204535), representing 1.2 percent of the U.S. population.

Today, our pocket-size phones are our computers and we can use them to stream 2024’s hit movies from just about any location.

In 2024, our economic output (GDP) measured over $29 trillion, and our population topped 340 million. The federal government had 3 million employees, representing 0.88 percent of the U.S. population.

Over the last 40 years, in case you missed it, our nation’s population grew by over 43 percent, and the economy by more than 600 percent. Meanwhile, the size of the federal workforce changed by less than 1 percent, while still serving a population that increased by over 100 million. Impressive!

Now, our tyrannical king and his cabinet of misfits, unimpeded by their Republican legislative vassals, indiscriminately hack away at our nation’s civil servants and institutions.

They are clearing an unobstructed, unfettered path toward an authoritarian government which further favors the very rich, while weakening financial, environmental and social protections.

Looking at just the Office of Inspectors General, Trump and his administration fired 18 inspectors general from 17 federal agencies. In 2023 alone, the OIGs conducted 2,217 audits, identified over $93 billion in savings, and conducted investigations resulting in 4,318 criminal prosecutions.

For every $1 invested in the 2023 OIG budget, there was a return of $26! (ignet.gov, Annual Report to the President 2023).

Actions taken by these political hacks are an affront to the American people and a societal offense. The national debt is their alibi, while profit, power, and control their motive.

An independent, strong civil service, with legal oversight and enforcement authority, backed by the judiciary, stood in their way.

Dedicated civil servants are the answer to political corruption, corporate overstep, fraud, waste and abuse. These regressive Republicans, including our own Jack Bergman, have got to go!

It’s either liberty and justice for all, or accumulated wealth and power for the few. It’s your choice.