In the past, patronage determined who worked for the U.S. government. Jobs were awarded based on political ties to the sitting president and his party, rather than merit or expertise. The result is “Rampant incompetence and nepotism” So Congress reformed the system in 1883 by creating a professional, merit-based civil service system.
more 2 million civilians Today I work for the federal government. Donald Trump believes many people do. “rogue bureaucrat” It is in a deep mythical state. “They have to take responsibility.” trump said. “They are destroying this country. They are crooked people. They are dishonest people.”
Ex-president plans to reinstate the spoils system by firing as many people as possible 50,000 Careerists and replace them with loyalists. He also plans to move 100,000 federal jobs out of Washington, D.C., and previous forced relocations have led to many workers choosing to leave federal service rather than uproot their families. Selected.
The plan is written as follows project 2025 (Trump says he has it) “It has nothing to do with it.” despite him I have connections with many of the project's authors.) and the House bill, Civil Service System Reform Act. It would allow the president or his appointees to fire federal employees “for good reason, malicious reason, or no reason at all.” Even if an employee is fired for violating a law or refusing to carry out an unethical order, the employee has no right to appeal.
This plan has nothing to do with improving government work. The return to cronyism is part of President Trump's strategy to suppress government work that contradicts his often unrealistic and dangerous views.
Of course, Republican presidential candidates undoubtedly want unfettered control over America's largest employers and their companies. $4.5 trillion budget (2023) includes programs and services that affect virtually all Americans.
Two examples of President Trump's “war on science” demonstrate how extreme and harmful it has been and continues to be.
a Learn with Science Direct The document documents how “the Trump administration has routinely suppressed, downplayed, or simply ignored scientific research demonstrating the need for regulation to protect public health and the environment.” List of Sabine Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University School of Law 176 actions President Trump and Congress have taken steps to weaken or eliminate federal efforts to help Americans mitigate and adapt to climate change. The Trump administration has rescinded more than 100 environmental policies. particularly focus on climate change.
The Sabine Center also 543 examples How conservatives in federal and state governments have tried to silence climate science. By January 2020, The Washington Post reported Since President Trump took office, hundreds of federal scientists have been “ostracized, sidelined, or silenced.” More concrete measures, such as relocation, are spurring this exodus far and wide” from the nation's capital. ”
But nothing compares to the misery President Trump has caused during the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump downplays the seriousness of the new coronavirus When compared to influenzaad lib dangerous treatment and I'm saying“One day, it's like a miracle, it disappears.”
It wasn't, and it wasn't. By the last day of his term, 400,000 Americans The death toll from the virus was the highest ever recorded in any country in 24 hours. Last year, it remained the 10th leading cause of death. Number of deaths: 76,446 By the end of August this year, most people in the US had died from the virus. 1.2 million Americans.
In 2020, a parliamentary committee documented: 47 items The Trump administration has set aside, ignored, or changed the advice of government scientists during the coronavirus outbreak. In 2021, Congress will published evidence Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were under pressure from Trump administration officials to change scientific guidance and were unable to communicate directly with the public about the pandemic. And in 2022, Elsevier study “The Trump administration has routinely suppressed, downplayed, or simply ignored scientific research demonstrating the need for regulation to protect public health and the environment,” it concluded.
President Trump has said that federal employees “must be held accountable,” but he routinely takes steps to slander courts, judges, juries, prosecutors, and the press and hold them accountable. There is. But he developed particular animosity toward the FBI, the Justice Department, and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. be forced out of one's job After Sessions recused himself from the investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. In 2020, President Trump even fired five officials accused of uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse within the government. One was an inspector. be responsible for monitoring Spending from the $2 trillion stimulus package during the pandemic.
Government careerists include Democrats, Republicans, and everything in between. Each took an oath to support and defend the Constitution.
“One of the purposes of the oath of office is to remind federal employees that they do not swear allegiance to their supervisors, agencies, political appointees, or even the president,” said former chief human resources officer Jeff Neal. Let them do it,” he said. federal government. “The oath is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge its duties. Its intent is to protect the people from a government that may fall victim to its political whims and to use the North Star as a source of direction.” , that is, to provide a constitution.”
Kamala Harris, Liz Cheney, and many others in both political parties say it's time to put our country and our Constitution above partisanship. The same is true for federal careerists. For the sake of good government and the American people, vote on November 5th to save the meritocratic civil service.
William S. BeckerHe is executive director of the President's Climate Action Project and a former senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy.
