To the Editor:

U.S. Representative Ron Estes:

In an op-ed to The Washington Reporter dated Feb. 10, 2025, you wrote: “Much of the work to weed out waste, fraud and abuse is being done through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was legally established as a temporary organization within the federal government and with liaisons working in partnership with confirmed government officials.” With all due respect, I disagree. The U.S. Constitution confers on the Congress the power to establish departments and agencies in the Executive Branch of the government and to define the duties and functions of the officers who are to administer them; and that, when the Congress has so done, the President, in the absence of legislative authority, has no legal power to interfere with the administration of such departments or agencies, further than to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” (U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 3.)

You went on to state: “Read-only access to U.S. Treasury payment systems has been provided to a limited number of individuals who are working with government departments to eliminate the unnecessary spending that is burdening our nation...” That “limited number of individuals” includes six young (late teens – early 20s) IT “experts” who were NOT properly vetted for the work they are doing, nor do they have security clearance. Furthermore, they have NO knowledge whatsoever as to the functions of the departments and payment systems that they are merrily gutting as we speak. You call this “a more secure process than when under Biden’s watch more than 5,000 contractors had access to sensitive IRS systems, as reported in a 2024 inspector general report.” How can this process be “more secure” than when it was monitored by inspectors general...people who were granted security clearance after being thoroughly vetted, people who have the experience and expertise to know how these agencies work and why they were created in the first place?

Perhaps you and your colleagues in the House of Representatives, as well as members of the Senate, need to actually read the Constitution to which you swore an oath. Donald Trump’s “creation” of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is only one of a plethora of illegal and unconstitutional acts that he has committed in the past 30 days, and it seems to me that had any of you had any knowledge whatsoever of what’s in the Constitution, you would have put a stop to it on Jan. 21. You can get a free copy of the U.S. Constitution from Constitution Facts, the Bill of Rights Institute, and Hillsdale. You can also find the Constitution online at the National Constitution Center website and the National Archives website. It would behoove you and the rest of Congress to find out what your constitutional duties and authorities are before president Trump/Musk and their “administration” decide to fire all of you.

Sharon McGinness

Larned