Every government shutdown is an efficiency audit in disguise. Since 1981, four major shutdowns have generated data about what government actually needs to function. The funding impasses have collectively produced the world’s largest organizational efficiency study.
Conventional budget cuts start with everything and try to subtract, forcing agencies to prove positions aren’t needed while dealing with the politics of lobbying and litigation. A shutdown starts with nothing and adds back only what is necessary. All positions are furloughed unless an agency can demonstrate an employee is essential to perform a core function. If services degrade, the agency can recall more workers, so the system self-corrects.
Shutdowns let Congress run an experiment it would ordinarily never attempt: Close the whole thing down and see what breaks. This is what Elon Musk did at Twitter. He fired 80% of the staff, watched what broke, and restored only what proved necessary.
Based on shutdown data, roughly 25% of the federal workforce could be trimmed with little effect.