Trump’s Anti-Democratic Actions Masquerade As Reforms
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been systematically attacking federal employees since the inauguration. This seems to have a fourfold purpose: to wreak vengeance on the Department of Justice and FBI employees who were involved in the prosecutions of Trump and the January 6 insurrectionists, to eliminate the Inspectors General and other officials responsible for monitoring for fraud, to decimate the staff of agencies with the responsibility to enact regulatory legislation, and to disable many of the agencies responsible for disbursing federal monies, domestically and internationally. It looks like much of this is unlawful, and lawsuits are rapidly multiplying.
On the day after Trump’s inauguration, a bundle of Executive Orders froze large swaths of federal spending and began the process of converting many civil servants to political appointees (Schedule F). While regular civil servants are protected by law from firing for political reasons, political appointees serve “at will” and can be dismissed for any reason. Political appointees are, therefore, more likely to be loyal to Trump than to the oath they swear to the Constitution. This clears a path for Trump “to abuse his power to punish, intimidate, and silence opponents by making government aid, contracts, licenses, merger approvals, tax benefits, permits, civil penalties, relief aid, grants, and regulatory waivers contingent on showing personal fidelity.” Soon after, the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management ordered all agency heads and acting heads to send a list of all employees still on probation and to “promptly determine whether those employees should be retained.” At this writing, thousands of probationary employees in several agencies have received emails terminating their employment, though the Office of Special Council has ordered the reinstatement of some of those fired employees, and is looking at many others.
Now, the bogus “Department of Government Efficiency,” (DOGE) comprising Elon Musk and his businesses’ employees, is rampaging through government agencies, slashing Congressionally authorized expenses by terminating contracts, and firing (probably illegally) federal employees. While this is billed as a way to eliminate waste and fraud, no audits have occurred, and federal officials whose job it is to identify waste and fraud, the Inspectors General, have been fired (also apparently illegally). The firings will increase waste (e.g., IRS), and degrade critical services (e.g., EPA, VA). Apparently also, DOGE has vastly overstated the actual “savings” of the terminated contracts. The effect on Federal spending of firing so many employees is minimal; payroll for the entire civilian workforce is under 6% of annual Federal outlays.
While “shrinking the administrative state” is billed as a way to diminish the power of “unelected bureaucrats, ” this Trumpian move is really an attempt to achieve through the “back door” what the Right has been unable to do through the democratic process: hobbling the regulatory apparatus. That regulatory process ensures that Americans are protected from the mercenary actions of business interests.
This is the latest battle in an ongoing struggle in the U.S. between monied oligarchs on the one side and advocates of democracy on the other. Initially, the Constitution was formulated mainly to restrict the power of the government over citizens. As the country matured, power flowed to wealthy men, initially the large plantation owners whose wealth depended on slavery and then, toward the end of the 19th century, to the rising class of industrialists and associated businessmen. In response, Congress passed laws protecting people from some of the most egregious abuses of power. They regulated employment conditions; the financial behavior of banks, corporations, and investors; civil rights; drug safety; and our food, air, and water.
The problems these laws address are complex and often have very technical underpinnings. Congress generally lays out general frameworks in law and instructs Executive Branch departments and agencies to supply the necessary technical structure to fill out those frameworks in the form of “rules.” Before they are finalized, these rules are subject to scrutiny and comment by the public and independent experts. Once published, rules are subject to review and rejection by Congress through the Congressional Review Act. Congressional committees oversee Agencies’ activities.
By crippling the departments that administer those laws and bringing the remaining civil servants in those departments under political control, the Trump administration would bypass Congress and achieve by undemocratic means what conservatives have been unable to achieve democratically — neutering the regulations that give substance to the laws designed to protect all of us.
For Further Reading
The Fraudulence of “Waste, Fraud and Abuse”, Paul Krugman
Some Basic Math about Cutting Government, Don Moynihan
“Unelected Bureaucrats” Are More Accountable than You Think, Don Moynihan and Don Kettl
DOGE as a National Cyberattack, Bruce Schneier
Chaos, Harassment, and Unpaid Bills: Inside Elon Musk’s War on USAID, Tim Murphy and Abby Vesoulis
There's a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing, Anne Applebaum
Musk’s Fraudulent Fraud Squad, Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan