Daily Times

Donald Trump has promised to impose disruptive change on government. Most of his appointees have been chosen for that purpose. And Congress is not immune if Trump is able to persuade both Houses to grant him recess appointments. That would neuter the Senate and its advise and consent constitutionality authority.

Whether or not all Trump’s appointees take office (and Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz may be a dead man walking), suppose each department is given orders “to clean house and weed out ‘the deep state,'” disruption throughout and across the Federal government will become the new normal. That raises a crucial question: can any nation survive a government in total chaos immobilized by potentially maximum disruption?

Stalin’s collectivization and Mao’s cultural revolution were classic examples of destructive disruption. While some will dispute this thesis, if Trump’s disruptive aims are implemented, several outcomes are predictable. First, anyone seeking the political center will be roadkill, crushed by the MAGA right in pursuing the president’s agenda and the Democratic left in opposing it. Second, crucial legislation to enable government to function such as passing budgets and debt ceilings will be stymied. Third, both sides will employ all means, fair or foul, to block the other. Fourth, the consequences will extend well beyond the nation’s borders.

Women will not react fondly to being returned to second class citizenship.

The result will be chaos as the Federal government is unable to govern and provide basic services.

Start with the non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency headed by the world’s richest man Elon Musk and the world’s fastest talker Vivek Ramaswamy. Conflict of interests aside, there is no way that the promised $2 trillion can be cut from a $6.7 trillion annual budget in the short term.

Non-discretionary or legally mandatory funding when interest payments on the national debt are included make up about 75 percent of the budget. Defense is another 13 percent and the incoming administration has signaled its intent to increase it. That leaves about 10 percent or $700 billion in discretionary spending from which to cut $2 trillion if no cuts are made to the other 90 percent of the budget that are mandated.

Unless Musk and Ramaswamy defy mathematics, no creative accounting can reconcile these budget realities. That leaves mandatory spending as the source for cuts. But will Trump risk public wrath if social security and medicare/medicaid benefits are reduced?

This disruption cannot be isolated from financial markets and the ensuing turmoil created by uncertainty over fiscal and monetary policy. It is unclear that the Trump team is aware of the potential chaos that could be created or of the track record of prior attempts to limit spending. As a member of the Grace and Packard Commissions of the Reagan administration and a commentator on Al Gore’s Reinventing Government and the Bowles-Simpson Commission, despite the best intentions, none of these succeeded. What evidence is there that Musk and Ramaswamy will do better? Indeed, the possible downsides have not been considered yet.

Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can be challenged for lack of experience and competence. Yet, as DHS is tasked with the largest deportation of illegal aliens in history, the legal, logistical and economic reverberations have been ignored. Indeed, as farmers warn, one result could be the monumental lack of workers that could cause a crisis in the food industry.

Defense is another case of impending chaos. The current nominee, Pete Hegseth, has vowed to fire officers who took part in the Afghanistan evacuation; are too “woke”; and remove women from combat. This will cause a counter- cultural revolution in defense. Recall how long it took to move from barring homosexuals from service to don’t ask don’t tell to no restrictions.

It is essential to consider how the morale and esprit of the Pentagon will be affected. First, women will not react fondly to being returned to second class citizenship or how these warfighting billets will be filled given shortfalls in recruiting and retaining service personnel. Second, how does one fire officers for carrying out legal orders and authority? Third, how will the military respond to a MAGA culture being imposed on it by the Trump administration?

No doubt, the US government needs an overhaul. However, imposing simultaneous disruption across all or most of government has only one outcome. This is akin to modifying the engines, wings, flight controls, avionics and seating in an airplane flying at 600 miles per hour, at 25,000 feet. Buckle up is not even close to anticipating what lies ahead.

The writer is a senior advisor at Washington, DC’s Atlantic Council and a published author. He can be reached on Twitter @harlankullman.