Staff Reports
The government’s digital footprint is about as lean as a sumo wrestler on a diet. While citizens are left scratching their heads over the fiscal insanity that seems to perpetuate in Washington, the feds can’t even trim their web presence, let alone balance a budget. Back in 2011, with the pressure mounting from the no-nonsense tea party Republicans, President Obama decided to take a crack at cutting down federal .gov websites. He handed the task off to Vice President “Sheriff Joe” Biden, who must have thought the assignment was akin to organizing a bake sale on a budget—except, of course, no cookies were involved.
Fast forward to today, and not only did they come up short on their lofty goal of halving the number of websites, but the government has since managed to inflate its digital inventory. While the Obama administration was patting itself on the back for slicing off 25% of the federal domains, the number steadily climbed back up like a bad cold that just won’t go away. One can only wonder how any institution that can’t manage to delete a few websites is expected to handle the complex art of budget cuts. It’s sort of like a person claiming to want to lose weight while wolfing down donuts; there’s a glaring disconnect.
Enter President Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” where two entrepreneurial titans, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, are poised to do what government officials can’t seem to grasp: delivering on an actual diet for Uncle Sam. The marketers in this venture seem to get it; they plan to cut down on redundant agencies before merely canceling a handful of websites. After all, bulldozing an unneeded website is like moving a grain of sand at the beach when the real estate development is still engulfing the shoreline.
In the eternal quest for symbolism, former President Obama attempted to squeeze the excess out of .gov sites. Yet, the brutal truth is that federal entities latch onto their websites as if they were badges of honor, believing that increased domains equate to increased power. The Commerce Department, for example, proudly holds 66 domains, while the Energy Department isn’t far behind with 65. And who can take seriously a Department of Health and Human Services with a staggering 131 websites, including gems like menopause.gov? Clearly, they haven’t met a website they didn’t want to create.
The politics of creating — or killing — a government websitehttps://t.co/E3xREtUS6c pic.twitter.com/RtsEdY82L5
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) January 2, 2025
The grand total in 2011 was around 1,760 federal websites, which, after a brief snip from Biden, was reduced to 1,335 by the eve of the Trump presidency. Yet, as of the latest count, the number crept back up to 1,373. With a staggering majority belonging to the Executive Branch, it’s evident that nowhere in the government’s playbook is the advice to consolidate or streamline their online presence. Instead, the agencies churn out a myriad of confusing redirects and unnecessary duplicates like it’s the hottest party trend going. Why is there a need for ClimateCorp.gov and AmericanClimateCorps.gov when all roadways eventually lead back to a single homepage?
Ironically, while they might be struggling with digital decluttering, as it turns out, some federal initiatives, like creating new sections for those separated at the border, showcase an inflated web presence aimed at a very specific objective: facilitating government messaging. This seems to indicate that while the government may have aspirations of being efficient and effective, the reality remains that it is often anything but. The convoluted world of federal websites is a testament to their inability to prioritize, and the voters are left wondering whether the digital chaos is a sign of something much bigger—namely, an inability to rein in the excesses of government spending. If they can’t manage their websites, how in the world will they ever manage taxpayers’ money?
