Contractors cost roughly twice what an employee cost.
That may a fabrication. Sure they cost more during the short term, but no necessarily over the longer turn on a fluid organization, ie - one whose demand for services is not constant but fluctuates.
Too many federal agencies do not see themselves as being nimble, ie - perhaps needing less people as technology improves, or value creation lelsewhere rather than what they happen to be working on over the years.
It is obvious that that is the problem being unearthed by DOGE - no anxiety whatsover to within the government to better their processes; instead, it is chug along with what they have been doing on 'addon' for any additional work.
Do you incorporate within that analysis the benefits a federal employee gets, as well as the fact that a contractor can get laid off much easier than a contractor?
Contractors are performance-based, whereas federal employees are much less likely to be. How to prove?
How many federal employees over the years have been shoved out the door? Tiny compare to contractors.
We need both federal employees and contractors cut, and there is a lot more meat on the bone to cut contractor count more right now, as they should ONLY be used to provide temporary resources and/or resources not available within the federal government.
I have worked for the federal government several years in an agency, and have worked in private industry both as an employee and as a contractor.