I swear, they used the phrase “witch hunt” in this context, not me.

The Trump transition is showing a disturbing pattern within the federal government of agencies who have ceased to see themselves as servants on the elected representatives of the people but rather are independent actors following their own policy and doing what they damned well please.

First we had the CIA launch a scurrilous attack on the very legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election. It alleged, without evidence, that the Russians intervened in our election in favor of Trump and then has declared it will not make its evidence public. At best this is irresponsible douchebaggery that calls into question the ability of that agency to do anything useful. At worst it is a violation of the Hatch Act and should be followed by Mike Pompeo with a vigorous round of firings and demotions.

Then the Trump transition asked Energy for data it has every right to see concerning the staff resources used by that department to foist the faux-science “climate change” propaganda on the US public, a clear violation of federal laws that prevent US funds from being used to propagandize Americans in the United States. This simple request was met by such shrieks of despair that you are left with the sure knowledge that Energy knows what it did and is trying to avoid paying a price.

Now the Trump transition has made a similar request of State… with similar results.

The Trump transition team instructed the State Department to turn over all information Wednesday about “gender-related staffing, programming, and funding,” setting off alarm bells among those who fear that the new administration is going to purge programs that promote women’s equality along with the people who work on them.

Only a week after being embroiled in a controversy over collecting information on Energy Department climate change officials, the Trump team seems to be at it again. On Wednesday morning, the State Department leadership sent out what’s called a “Flash Transition Tasker” to a long list of offices and bureaus. This official request mandated that all State Department offices provide to the Trump team by 5 p.m. Wednesday full reports on the positions and programs at the State Department dedicated to promoting a range of women’s and gender issues around the world.

I obtained a copy of the State Department request, which said each office should include information on all existing programs and activities that “promote gender equality, such as ending gender-based violence, promoting women’s participation in economic and political spheres, entrepreneurship, etc.”
…
…One senior State Department official said that because the Trump team’s request did not ask for names, only positions of staffers who work on gender and women’s issues, the State Department felt compelled to cooperate.

“It’s not clear to us what the intent is behind this request,” the official said. “The Trump team could be looking to advance gender issues and make it a priority — or you could look at it as a witch hunt.”

What is also increasing the angst is the fact that these wasteful programs were started by Hillary Clinton and State is striving mightily to protect her:

While at the State Department, Clinton made women’s issues a top priority, especially in countries with highly restrictive gender-based laws, such as Afghanistan. On her international travels she frequently met with women’s groups to offer support.

An office was created to deal exclusively with global women’s issues, and money was allocated for programs that promote education of girls, train women in marketable skills and offer micro-loans.

Clinton also created the position of ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues and changed State Department policies to give equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats.

These are vanity programs that have produced f***-all in terms of advances on the ground. What they did was serve as props for Hillary’s vagina driven presidential campaign.

I am more than a little unclear on why this State Department goon thinks he had any ability to refuse to answer the request. That information will be available to Trump’s team on January 20 whether he likes it or not. And you know what, if Trump’s team at State wants to kill these boondoggle programs that serve as full-employment schemes for the brigades of SJWs graduated from elite colleges each year they can do it and they can do about 99% of it without getting approval from anyone.

Were I giving Trump one piece of advice it would be to send each new cabinet secretary into their position with a team of vicious and unprincipled employment law attorneys who would get bonuses for every firing of a GS-13 and above that they can orchestrate. In particular, they should retrieve the email of anyone who gave them any pushback over these requests and target them and anyone they consulted with on that resistance for termination. These people don’t respect anything but the raw exercise of power.