Maddow Blog-In the spotlight, Kristi Noem brings the administration's brutal inefficiencies into focus

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Six months into Trump’s second term, Americans confront more bureaucracy, more paperwork, more delays and more inefficiencies.

Six months into Trump’s second term, Americans seeing more bureaucracy, more paperwork, more delays, and more inefficiencies.

Kristi Noem’s 0,000 rule is a problem, but the larger pattern is a bigger problem. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-11T16:03:50.349Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/spotlight-kristi-noem-brings-administrations-brutal-inefficiencies-foc-rcna218243

But The Washington Post published a related report about the significance of a memo Noem issued a month ago, which requires Department of Homeland Security personnel to get her personal approval on spending in excess of $100,000. From the Post’s article:

Deployments of critical resources, such as tactical and specialized search and rescue teams, were delayed as a result of a budget restriction requiring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem to approve every purchase, contract and grant over $100,000, according to a dozen current and former FEMA employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

.....This has not been a fleeting concern. The Post went on to report two months later on agencies and officials being “incapacitated” by new and unnecessary regulations:

At the Environmental Protection Agency, research at 11 laboratories has ground to a halt because the Trump administration has not approved most new lab purchases. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, key work on weather forecasting has slowed to a crawl because Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick must sign off personally on many contracts and grants. And at the Social Security Administration, some employees are running out of paper, pens and printer toner because the U.S. DOGE Service has placed a $1 spending limit on government-issued credit cards.

It’s not just spending restrictions, either. In some agencies, government operations have slowed to a crawl because vendors have to complete paperwork certifying their opposition to “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies.

What’s more, Trump and his team aren’t just creating new hurdles for federal employees and departments, they’re also poised to create related problems for the public. Indeed, among the most notable elements of the Republican Party’s far-right megabill are new bureaucratic requirements for Medicaid recipients, among others.

As The Atlantic’s Jon Chait recently explained: “Congress is not finding magical efficiencies. To the contrary, the bill introduces inefficiencies by design. The main way it will throw people off their health insurance is by requiring Medicaid recipients to show proof of employment. States that have tried this have found the paperwork so onerous that most people who lose their insurance are actually Medicaid-eligible but unable to navigate the endless bureaucratic hassle. The end result will be to punish not only the millions of Americans who lose Medicaid but also the millions more who will pay an infuriating time tax by undergoing periodic miniature IRS audits merely to maintain access to basic medical care.”

Nearly six months into the new era of Republican control, Americans are confronting more government, more bureaucracy, more paperwork, more breakdowns within federal agencies, more delays, and perhaps most importantly, more inefficiencies.

That’s the opposite of what Trump promised on the campaign trail.