system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why don't Federal programs have a small trial-run like "America Works" had in 'House of Cards'?

You'd think with all the fighting in Washington, you'd think any idea could be trial run on a small scale to collect data on whether or not to unroll the programs nationwide.
gpt
They frequently do.  Either the government will run a pilot program to test it out, or the program will have been tested in a state (or states) prior to national adoption.  

For example the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") tried in Massachusetts for years before it was adopted at the Federal level (and the success of that program on the state level is part of why it was adopted at the national level).   As an example of national pilot programs, you can look to Head Start - which is constantly running pilot programs to expand services or test new ways of providing services prior to national roll-out.