Build, Baby, Build!

Could VP Vance Make America Build Again?

One theme in the call to make America great again is harking back to the era when domestic manufacturing and construction were robust—there is some justice to this.

The United States suffers from a severe national crisis. We do not seem capable of building shit anymore. While London and Paris rebuilt their subways, NYC added a pair of stops and a few miles track for the same price. The Navy can only build one nuclear submarine a year, and is woefully behind Chinese shipyards in general. Leading the wealthiest alliance in world history, the U.S. couldn’t keep up with Ukrainian demands for 155mm artillery shells. We have skyrocketing energy needs and cannot build nuclear power plants, which would meet those needs and then some without creating greenhouse gases. And housing, we cannot seem to build houses.

Building the Brookly Bridge: considered the 8th wonder of the world in its day

There are innumerable specific reasons for each of these problems taken separately. But looking across the whole, we have a national problem. One way for the nation to address such problems is through blue-ribbon commissions and task forces. Often derided as make-work, in fact these bodies are used strategically to generate policy options. Amy Zegart studied how presidents use these commissions, either to build support for their policies, identify options, or foster consensus.

There are no hard and fast definitions, but a Commission studies a problem and develops recommendations that often can be used in legislation. Many of the big problems require Congressional action. The president cannot override regulation, Congress can. Congress can also reorganize agencies and appropriate funds.

A Task Force, on the other hand, faces inward. It develops actionable items that the executive branch can undertake on its own authority and/or oversees their implementation. They are often led by vice presidents. This White House imprimatur enables inter-agency efforts and adds potency to requests for information and demands for action. Bush Sr. led task forces on regulatory reform and counter-terror, he handed the former on to his successor Dan Quayle. Gore led several task forces, most famously Reinventing Government, but also on airline security and security for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Cheney’s best-known task force was his Energy Commission. Biden oversaw the Recovery Act. Pence co-chaired the ill-fated election security commission, the Space Council, and a pandemic response committee. Harris took on several issues including labor rights and rural broadband.

The scale of the U.S. building crisis is such that both a commission and task force are needed. Vance could play a unique role by chairing both and ensuring that the work of the two bodies inform one another. The task force may come across issues that require Congressional action. The commission may identify opportunities for executive action.

For this to be effective, it should be serious. The commission must be bipartisan and include serious figures from government and business. It should include prominent and respected Democratic figures. The task force could incorporate cabinet officials who are respected such as incoming Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Both committees should be properly staffed and operate within the well-established legal frameworks for these bodies.

This would be a remarkable opportunity for Vance to establish his own reputation, appear presidential, and—most importantly—address a set of critical national problems.

The Problem of DOGE

The biggest challenge to this plan is that Trump has already established the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk is the world’s wealthiest man and Ramaswamy, a billionaire and political aspirant, are larger than life figures with ambitious (and not well-grounded) ideas on reforming government. Musk, who whatever his flaws, has also had some notable business successes might bring real insight into reforming government processes.

Unfortunately, DOGE is not on a clear legal foundation and its principals are spouting ideas that are unrealistic, while harassing civil servants. The dirty secret about government regulations and procedures is that they are inefficient because of competing priorities. Government acquisition is incredibly complex, which is a drag on efficiency. These processes exist however to stymie corruption, improve transparency, and often to support social or political goals. (Corruption of course occurs regardless, the creative energies of vice are inexhaustible.)

We have a national building crisis, and the vice presidency is an office well-suited to take it on. The existence of DOGE, however, would put Vance in a difficult position if he took it on. Difficult, but not impossible. If Vance were to chair a commission and/or task force and manage the relationship with DOGE, it would cement his reputation as presidential.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.