Lately they have cut things – the sequester was real and will be causing damage for decades[1] – but generally in the least productive ways possible. That gives them something to point at while still leaving plenty to rant about and, of course, more chances to grandstand over self-created problems like backlogs at the IRS, VA, etc. I'm sure we're going to hear plenty about this security breach and nobody will mention that the federal pay scale tops out below what the average infosec professional makes or that agencies have been begging for funding to improve their IT staff for years.
1. Most young scientists are leaving research due to budget cuts at NIH, NSF, NASA, etc. They're unlikely to ever come back so we've lost a large chunk of an entire generation of research in most fields. Sure, many of them are going to industry but I would submit that a crop of data scientists selling ads is less productive for the country long-term than all of the foundational pure research which industry rarely funds.
1. Most young scientists are leaving research due to budget cuts at NIH, NSF, NASA, etc. They're unlikely to ever come back so we've lost a large chunk of an entire generation of research in most fields. Sure, many of them are going to industry but I would submit that a crop of data scientists selling ads is less productive for the country long-term than all of the foundational pure research which industry rarely funds.