Trump's Malevolent Plan

Click here for an article at Washington Monthly by Lindsay M. Chervinsky titled "Trump and the Republican War on the Civil Service."

I had thought that this was some pipe dream Trump was having toward the end of his shameful presidency, but apparently the idea has taken hold and in recent months has become a full-blown plan for the nation should Trump by some terrible twist of fate end up in the White House in 2024. 

Under this plan, Trump, if returned to office, would issue an executive order called “Schedule F,” which would reclassify the status of thousands of employees—making it easier for the president to fire them at will. The Heritage Foundation has crafted “Project 2025” to create a “civic infrastructure” to implement on day one of a second Trump term, including tens of thousands of right-wing Trump ideologues ready to replace fired civil servants. Heritage recently recruited potential candidates at the Iowa State Fair and other locations nationwide. 

This plan would reproduce the spoils system’s worst corruption, grift, and inefficiencies. The spoils system is the colloquial term for the period from roughly 1828 to 1883 when political appointees were doled out government positions in return for their vote and political loyalty. To the victory of the presidential election went the extensive and lucrative “spoils.” Under the spoils system, most federal positions were political appointees, from post office managers to customs house collectors to clerks in the executive departments. Party bosses granted these positions as rewards to loyal operatives and used them as cudgels to force supporters to toe the party line.  

Unsurprisingly, this system was wildly inefficient and bred widespread corruption because politicians selected officeholders for their political utility rather than merit.

Great for the autocrat/dictator in power; terrible for the country.