Trump’s Office of American Innovation holds promise

OPINION:

President Donald Trump will announce Monday the formation of a new Office of American Innovation, to be headed by his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

And aside from the George Orwellian-sounding bent — the ministries of Love, Peace, Truth and Plenty in “1984” that weren’t — it’s a fine idea. Who doesn’t want to get rid of government bloat and bureaucracy?

It’s like taking a stand against clear air. Or poverty eradication, right?

The office’s main mission is to come up with new and fresh ideas that eliminate “government stagnation,” according to a White House statement.

But it will also have considerable power to reform and overhaul those government programs seen as antithetical to free markets. Privatization is one possible tool the office could recommend.

Here’s how The Washington Post puts it: “The White House Office of American Innovation … will operate as its own nimble power center within the West Wing and will report directly to Trump. Viewed internally as a SWAT team of strategic consultants, the office will be staffed by former business executives and is designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington, float above the daily political grind and create a lasting legacy for a president still searching for signature achievements.”

Oh, Washington Post — had to get a dig in at the end, didn’t you? Trump’s only been in office a few short weeks. He’s hardly reached the phase of presidency where he’s “still searching for signature achievements.”

Anyway, Trump’s billing the office as a place where bureaucracy dies.

“All Americans, regardless of their political views, can recognize that government stagnation has hindered our ability to properly function, often creating widespread congestion and leading to cost overruns and delays,” Trump said in a statement.

And who knows better how to get rid of such roadblocks to development than business people?

The office is going to be staffed primarily by those from the business world. Chief Kushner, meanwhile, is a former real estate and media executive with a string of financial accomplishments to his 36-year-old name. He describes his new agency as “an offensive” team,” ready to go on the march against all-things-anti-progress. Among his top list of targeted overhauls? Veterans Affairs.

The technology used by the federal agencies.

And the government’s workforce development programs.

“We should have excellence in government,” Kushner said, in an interview with The Washington Post.

Agreed. And excellence in government should start first by recognizing that it’s the free market and the individual creator that are the true sources of America’s excellence — not the government itself. This office, while yet another creature of government, at least holds promise to remind of that.