The GOP Wants To Kill the Civil Service

Even if Trump isn't re-elected, we probably haven't seen the last of the aptly named Schedule F.

I’m not a prude about the spoils system. It’s necessary that the civil service be balanced with a loyal corps of political appointees who are motivated to implement the president’s program. But among his many other gifts to the nation, President Donald Trump reminded us that civil service protections keep the government in operation when a president is doing his best to lay waste to the rule of law. That’s why, at the end of his term, Trump tried to eliminate them. I’m skeptical that Trump himself can claw his way back from Mar-a-Lago into the Oval Office, but the next Republican president of this republic will likely be a Trumpian one, so expect another attempt to replace government professionals with political hacks. That’s the topic of my latest New Republic piece.