If our government has problems, or makes mistakes, are there causes or culprits lurking about?

And if a government entity is engaged in problematic practices, the proper thing to do is identify the political leaders and their political party so they can be held accountable.

To do that, let’s look at who has been in charge for the last quarter century.

University of Wisconsin professor Nick Hillman, who is also associate editor for the Journal of Higher Education, spent the time going through the statistics to find the answer.

“For a brief period in the early 1980s, Democrats held majorities in the House and Senate while also having party control of the majority of state legislatures. This is now the situation for Republicans, who have picked up state legislative party control and have gained majorities in Congress since 2010-2012,” Hillman wrote in a 2017 essay.

Hillman described what he viewed as trends, but was careful not to ascribe blame to any party or person.

Responsibility may not always follow with elected leadership, but if you can’t point to the folks in charge, who gets credit or blame?

In a Star-Advertiser report last week, President Donald Trump and advisor Elon Musk point to what Republicans use as the cliche of choice as the reason for our problems: “a bloated federal bureaucracy.”

National reports point to an “unelected” person being at fault. This “unelected” person appears often in accounts of our troubles. Of course, on a local level the politic leadership and management is Democratic and has been since 1954.

On a national level, Musk repeatedly warned of “unelected” bureaucrats interrupting the president’s agenda. Later in news reports the group had grown into a “large, unelected bureaucracy.”

Finally in a USA Today report we learn that this “unelected, fourth, unconstitutional branch of government” must be held accountable.

Can you see how close we are getting to finding answers? No longer is it an accountability vacuum.

A Time magazine cover of a recent Trump-Musk Oval Office news conference showed Musk sitting behind the Resolute desk, suggesting he was the one calling the shots on Pennsylvania Avenue. Later in the week, Trump thought it might be wise to focus on his newfound maturity.

During an appearance on NBC’s Today Show, Trump announced, “I will be so presidential … you will be so bored. You’ll say, ‘Can’t he have a little more energy?’”

The Trump federal government chaos prompted a reaction from Hawaii’s Democratic leaders.

Gov. Josh Green is now saying that if Trump’s federal government doesn’t want federal workers, Hawaii needs them and will expedite their hiring.

Last week, Green signed an executive order that speeds the hiring of former federal workers. Green’s order directs “state agencies to review candidates and make a conditional job offer within 14 days of receiving an individual’s application.”

Brenna Hashimoto, Hawaii human resources director, said in a Star-Advertiser report that her agency, DHRD, “is committed to working closely with other state agencies to ensure that suitable job candidates can be hired quickly.”

“Bloated bureaucracy” indeed. New jobs for new workers is the answer to Trump’s moves on government reform.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.