From FDR’s Brownlow to Trump’s DOGE: A Comparative Study of Federal Restructuring Efforts and the Challenge of Modernizing Government

• In Event: Presidential History

Brief Overview

This paper examines federal restructuring from 1937 to 2025, showing how reform efforts from FDR’s Brownlow to Trump’s DOGE reveal recurring tensions between efficiency and legitimacy, rhetoric and reality, and between innovation and capacity.

Authors

• Stephen E. Sussman, Barry University

• Carole S. Huberman-Talerico, Barry University