Unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch, colloquially known as the Deep State or administrative state, are terrified of a possible Trump election victory, according to Politico.
“Federal employees throughout the executive branch are panicking at the thought of another Trump administration,” the outlet reported on Tuesday.
Feds are sweating a Trump comeback https://t.co/4SZOyUOUUv
— POLITICO (@politico) October 15, 2024
Former President Donald Trump has pledged to “demolish the deep state.” His running mate, Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance, has said Trump ought to fire “every civil servant in the administrative state.” It’s not just campaign-trail bluster. In the waning days of his first administration, Trump sought to make it easier to fire federal employees — a move that was quickly reversed by the Biden administration.
Workers in some agencies are particularly distraught about a possible Trump return. The former president and his allies have singled out certain agencies — including those that issue environmental rules — as prime targets, should he return to office in January.
Politico goes on to expound on how federal employees in the EPA, Interior Department and other agencies are tightening their belts, shifting to other agencies like the Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce, “dusting off their resumes and delaying home repairs” ahead of anticipated “retaliation” from a second Trump administration.
The prospect of a Trump return is shaping how one Interior employee and their spouse — another federal worker — are handling their finances.
“We have stopped doing any money-spending things because what if we’re without jobs in the next year?” the Interior employee said. “We need all the savings we can get.”
That couple has put off buying a new car and paying for needed home repairs, that person said. “We’re both feeling the heaviness of this right now.”
That employee and others interviewed for this story spoke to POLITICO’s E&E News on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation if a Trump administration takes over in January.
“They’re so vindictive, I can see them going back through E&E News articles and saying, ‘You’re fired,’” the Interior employee said.
It’s “in the back of everybody’s mind” that a Trump administration might purge the federal workforce, said one employee at the National Science Foundation.
“People are worried, but anybody who has half a brain is existentially afraid for the safety of democracy,” that person said. At the moment, “people are very concerned with their day-to-day jobs” and are “working to make sure they can get a lot of good done now.”
Ironically, a Trump victory would mean that the American people decided — democratically — that the size of government should be reduced.
Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly (Va.) said, “Federal employees are rightly concerned about what a second Trump presidency will mean for them and, by extension, for the American people they so dutifully serve.”
Trump “has pledged to fire or relocate more than 100,000 federal employees who live and work in the D.C. region. He has repeatedly and shamelessly mocked the work of career experts and scientists, going so far as to scrub references to climate change from government websites. He has even promised to abolish entire government agencies that do not sufficiently bend themselves to his whims,” Connolly said.
Notably, disgraced ex-FBI Director James Comey in May also warned Trump would go after the bureaucrats in the Justice Department and FBI following their Russia collusion hoax and numerous lawfare cases brought against him over the last several years to derail his run for the presidency.
“Trump is coming for those institutions. He knows their power and I think he has regrets that he didn’t work hard enough to corrupt them last time,” Comey said on MSNBC.
Meanwhile, the media in recent months has been defending the Deep State — an apparatus which they previously characterized as a “conspiracy theory” — with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos claiming the Deep State is “packed with patriots” and the New York Times lauding the bureaucracy as “kind of awesome.”
Trump last month declared that Elon Musk would head a government efficiency commission that would look into how and where the federal government spends taxpayer funds and look to cut costs wherever possible to bring down runaway spending.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "At the suggestion of @elonmusk, who has given me his complete and total endorsement, I will create a Government Efficiency Commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government — and making recommendations… pic.twitter.com/ETZcsf7qbR
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 5, 2024
Many on social media ridiculed Politico’s defense of the bloated Deep State bureaucracy, with some citing a famous quote attributed to writer John Basil Barnhill that says, “When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”
When the government fears the people, we have liberty
— Tjb2112 (@tbausch2112) October 15, 2024
That’s how it should be.
— Thomas Musket ⓒ (@ThomasMusket) October 15, 2024
When the government no longer fears its people, you live in tyranny.
I'm already voting for DJT. I don't need any more convincing
— Jejune the Destroyer (@of_lyon68642) October 15, 2024
He definitely will drain the swamp
— Joziel Andujar (@JozielAndujar) October 15, 2024
Fantastic news, thanks!!! pic.twitter.com/fnhLvdsw2v
— This Wasn't Happening Under Trump (@k_ovfefe2) October 15, 2024
Wait until Elon starts cost cutting too in the Trump Administration. I voted for Trump today…early voting.
— TRM MAGA (@TRM81611) October 15, 2024
Imagine being afraid of cleaning up bloated government agencies to save money and improve efficiency. It’s like they’re not working for the benefit of the people or something.
— cr_clark (@cr_clark) October 15, 2024
Another case of Lib media inadvertently running pro-trump copy, lol
— Bill Marshal (@aethelamerican) October 15, 2024
If there’s one thing the government fears, it’s a check on its growing power.