Now that President-elect Donald Trump has won the election, folks on the left are melting down about the prospect that he might immediately begin cleaning house after he takes office.
Even before Election Day, media outlets published hand-wringing reports detailing how government workers and bureaucrats are terrified at the possibility that they might not have jobs any longer.
There is reason for concern – if you’re a Democrat. Conservative organizations are already laying the groundwork for a mass purge of woke leftists who might use their administrative positions to hamper Trump’s agenda. In fact, there have already been several reports full of ponderous meanderings about what this could mean.
If only the press had shown this level of compassion for everyday Americans who were put in similar positions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A CNN report discussed a “feeling of dread” among federal workers about Trump’s return to office, especially related to his plan to reinstate Schedule F, an executive order that would make it easier for a president to fire employees.
"Trump’s purge could be the biggest change to the federal workforce since the late 1800s, returning the federal government to the 'spoils system' of 1883 when victorious political parties gave government jobs to their supporters," said Max Stier, President of the Partnership for Public Service.”
The article highlighted that many federal employees are struggling with uncertainty months before Trump is set to take office. Boo hoo.
A report from The Guardian published in September promoted the Project 2025 hysteria that the left has been pushing for nearly a year. The article discussed fears that Trump might dismantle the administrative state, replacing merit-based hiring with political loyalty tests.
"If you’re Schedule F and you’re not following the political narrative, you could be fired," said Brian Kelly, an EPA emergency responder.
"Schedule F would have two big effects. One is it will reduce the capacity and performance of the federal government. Second, it will enable democratic backsliding or anti-democratic behavior to become more common," said Donald Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan.
Politico published a report explaining that Justice Department employees are “terrified” about the return of Trump. At least some of these individuals worry about facing retaliation for their roles in investigations targeting Trump. "Everyone I’ve talked to...are losing their minds," said a DOJ attorney.
"We’ve all seen this movie before, and it’s going to be worse. It’s just a question of how much worse it’s going to be," said a former DOJ official.
A DOJ attorney said that employees “are terrified that we’ll be replaced with partisan loyalists – not just because our jobs are on the line, but because we know that our democracy and country depend on a government support by a merit-based, apolitical civil service.”
Exactly who do these people think they are fooling? The notion that the bureaucracy is “apolitical” is about as believable as Eric Swalwell claiming he did not sleep with a Chinese spy.
But the pearl-clutching over government employees losing their jobs is rather hilarious considering how the press and their Democrat allies approached people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. When people were losing their jobs because of vaccine mandates or lockdown orders, they couldn’t even muster a single grain of compassion – even though it created devastating mental, physical, and financial problems for everyday folks who don’t have guaranteed positions of power at the federal government.
I remember when the government decided which jobs were "essential" and which weren't. Politicians on the left, along with their pundits, dismissed the livelihoods of countless families with a callous:
— Doni 🤓🏴🏴☠️ (@DoniTheMisfit) November 16, 2024
"Oh well, find a new career."
That same indifference resonates with me now in… https://t.co/cMjOwRGudJ
Instead, those who were suffering under government overreach were met with derision from members of the press, who essentially told them to suck it up, wear a mask, and obey. Yet, the suffering was real.
Untold numbers of Americans lost their jobs or were prevented from working because of the state’s reaction to the pandemic. Some were pushed out of work because they refused to take an experimental vaccine. Others could not do their jobs because they were deemed “non-essential” positions.
And members of our once-vaunted Fourth Estate had little to say about it. Instead of questioning the government and speaking truth to power, they gladly parroted the government narrative in the name of public safety.
So, perhaps they should spare us the false indignation. The government needs to be cut. The administrative state must be destroyed. While I don’t yet have much faith that this will happen – even under a Trump administration, it is clear that the federal government has become far too bloated and change is needed. Here’s to hoping that Trump proves me wrong.
