CEO’s Message – March 2025

Don’t Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater

Change almost seems too mild to describe the events rocking the establishment in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country. An F5 tornado perhaps is a more apt description, plowing mercilessly through the District of Columbia and its denizens on an unpredictable and riotous course. It seems President Donald Trump and his top lieutenant, Elon Musk, have decided the only way to truly transform hidebound Washington is to aggressively dismantle it and then figure out which pieces are worth saving and rebuilding.

Many citizens, frustrated by rigid bureaucracy and watching their tax dollars immolated by nonsensical spending, cheer on the melee with wild abandon. We’ve never seen anything like this— two men essentially torching everything that has been held sacred and untouchable in the nation’s capital. Others are aghast, namely the 435 congressional members, 100 senators, and millions of federal employees, who stand slack-jawed at the activity, unable to do anything about the incessant buzzsaw. Lawsuits have been filed, and some federal judges have attempted to rein in the free-for-all. But as of this writing in mid-February, they have had limited success.

There are many aphorisms that can be applied to what we’re witnessing, but as the storm has touched down in our world, one comes to mind: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

On the campaign trail and in his Republican National Convention acceptance speech, the president promised to end what he called the “Green New Steal,” referring to the Green New Deal, a policy direction set by the former administration. The last Congress passed and funded several pieces of legislation aimed at creating economic activity and accelerating the development of renewable energy projects. One was the New ERA program, which provided about $9 billion of grant funding to rural electric co-ops. Arizona G&T obtained more than $400 million to build renewable projects for its members and other public power customers in the southwest. True to his word, President Trump suspended the program until further review. It is one of hundreds of programs now hanging in limbo.

Elon’s Department of Government Efficiency has been given carte blanche to carve up federal agencies and dictate mass firings. Currently, the efforts don’t seem strategic. They seem haphazard and overwhelming with little regard for consequences. This slash-and-burn enthusiasm could have real-life consequences to Arizona’s co-ops—ones that rely on the Western Area Power Administration to deliver hydropower, for instance, or on the Rural Utility Services to administer financial programs.

Many believe the president can’t unilaterally suspend or terminate programs Congress authorized and appropriated money to fund or fire federal employees with civil service protections. Our government is a constitutional republic after all, not a monarchy. These are among the arguments being made to federal judges. The president has responded by denigrating the federal judiciary system and hinting he won’t abide by its findings. A dangerous precedent, for sure.

Everyone wants efficiency in government and to end asinine programs and expenditures. But it should be done thoughtfully and deliberately—unlike the current burn-it-all-down tactics underway. Let’s hope a more rational approach ultimately prevails.

Dave Lock
CEO