C-11-2 Revenge of the Bureaucrats
On Monday, as one of President Trump's first acts, he signed an executive order freezing most federal hiring. Trump's team is also working on plans to shrink federal agencies focused on domestic policy. Employees angered by this change could leak information to the Capitol and the press as backlash against the policy. They can also use the bureaucracies to slow or "sandbag" the policy proposals. Robert Shea, an official in George Bush's Office of Management and Budget said, "The government is a place where it is easier to keep something from getting done, than it is to actually do something. All of the work that the new administration wants to get accomplished will depend on the speed and productivity of the federal workforce." Aides are also contemplating the process of "reduction in force" that would allow the new administration to skirt the civil service's complicated rules for hiring and firing. The easiest way to do this might be through budget cuts to each agency, which would be mentioned in Trump's first budget proposal in the spring, but this is easier said than done. Thousands of federal workers belong to powerful unions that can mobilize their representatives in Congress. Almost 2/3 of them work for defense and security-related agencies, which are areas of the government that Trump promised not to touch during his campaign. Federal workers are also concerned that Trump may get support for these plans from the Republican-controlled Congress. Earlier this month, House Republicans brought up an 1876 rule that would allow them, with the majority in both the Senate and the House, to use spending legislation to lower the salary of governments employees. Those employees that choose to stay, may fight back against these policies by taking their information to advocacy groups and to the media. Former political appointees said career workers offer invaluable government experience to a new administration and with 2/3 of career employees in leadership positions eligible for retirement in the next few years, the federal government could be facing unprecedented loss.
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