It's what Raygun promoted and the GOP has embraced... until THEY became "the government" (and would supposedly "drain the swamp" and other nonsense).
Now THEY are "the swamp" after having emptied the government of employees and it's pretty clear that by doing what they did, people WILL discover what government DID do for them that they took for granted and never realized existed. That particular detail was also lost on the DOGE loons who went slashing and burning through programs that they had no idea what they were nor why they were put in place, nor cared... until someone screamed bloody murder and they put some of it back.
I always complained that every time there was a threat of or an actual government shutdown and furloughs, the first thing the media would do was to trivialize it by running to the nearest "national park" (usually anywhere in D.C.) and stand in front of a barrier with a sign that stated that the park was "closed".
In other words, "the government" was nothing more than caretakers of the national park system.
And during those furloughs, it was never a complete "shut down" but the employees always had to hope they would get back pay and those required to work weren't getting any current pay (although thankfully a law was finally passed to ensure back pay after a furlough because there was no provision for that unless explicitly authorized by a bill passed by Congress and signed into law to fund it).
This time, with literally tens of thousands of layoffs, retirements, and resignations, people are really about to find out what government does (and I am a federal retiree having worked 30+ years in it).