Click here for important updates to our privacy policy.
COLUMNS
The Oklahoman
Oklahomans, like others across the country, are concerned that President Donald Trump's apparent "ready-shoot-aim" approach to cutting waste and fraud out of federal agencies and federal programs is going to hurt, not help.
A state version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is coming soon, and Gov. Kevin Stitt has indicated it will involve some degree of thoughtful research and analysis before employees are fired and programs decimated or eliminated.
That's encouraging, but what really needs to happen should come from the inside, not the outside.
In other words, the people who work in state agencies know better than the governor or his designated OK-DOGE czar, Norman attorney Marc Nuttle, what needs to go and what needs to stay. Many government workers ― teachers and nurses come immediately to mind ― have chosen their professions because they truly care about the people their agencies were formed to assist.
They need to speak out. Some do.
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, nearly half of all occupational fraud is hidden and uncorrected until revealed by a whistleblower's tip.
That was true in 2021 when state Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd's office received two anonymous email messages revealing details that led to an investigation by the OSBI into criminal conduct between the Oklahoma...
CNN — On Friday, before signing his massive domestic policy bill, President Donald Trump proclaimed at the White House that “it’s the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country,” ...