Trump will ask Congress to ease the firing of government workers
Good if true: According to New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who is in charge of Donald Trump’s transition team, should he win the presidency he will ask Congress to pass laws making it easier from him to fire government workers.
Trump’s transition advisers fear that Obama may convert these appointees to civil servants, who have more job security than officials who have been politically appointed. This would allow officials to keep their jobs in a new, possibly Republican, administration, Christie said. “It’s called burrowing,” Christie said. “You take them from the political appointee side into the civil service side, in order to try to set up … roadblocks for your successor, kind of like when all the Clinton people took all the Ws off the keyboard when George Bush was coming into the White House.”
Originally these laws were passed to reduce the spoils system, whereby new presidents got to hand out lots of jobs to friends once elected. Now, these laws merely act to prevent elected officials from having any supervisory oversight over the employees they manage.
The article also noted that the Trump campaign is beginning to assemble a list of government workers they want to fire should they win. This is also encouraging, considering the overall incompetence we’ve seen in the federal government these past few years. (I would especially like to see the entire management of the National Park Service fired for the part they played in helping Obama during the government shutdown.) It is time for a purge. If Trump follows through with this, it will be a very positive thing.
Expect a lot of squealing however from the usual suspects in Washington. The key will be whether Trump will have the courage to follow through despite those squeals.
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Good if true: According to New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who is in charge of Donald Trump’s transition team, should he win the presidency he will ask Congress to pass laws making it easier from him to fire government workers.
Trump’s transition advisers fear that Obama may convert these appointees to civil servants, who have more job security than officials who have been politically appointed. This would allow officials to keep their jobs in a new, possibly Republican, administration, Christie said. “It’s called burrowing,” Christie said. “You take them from the political appointee side into the civil service side, in order to try to set up … roadblocks for your successor, kind of like when all the Clinton people took all the Ws off the keyboard when George Bush was coming into the White House.”
Originally these laws were passed to reduce the spoils system, whereby new presidents got to hand out lots of jobs to friends once elected. Now, these laws merely act to prevent elected officials from having any supervisory oversight over the employees they manage.
The article also noted that the Trump campaign is beginning to assemble a list of government workers they want to fire should they win. This is also encouraging, considering the overall incompetence we’ve seen in the federal government these past few years. (I would especially like to see the entire management of the National Park Service fired for the part they played in helping Obama during the government shutdown.) It is time for a purge. If Trump follows through with this, it will be a very positive thing.
Expect a lot of squealing however from the usual suspects in Washington. The key will be whether Trump will have the courage to follow through despite those squeals.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Your support is even more essential to me because I keep this site free from advertisements and do not participate in corrupt social media companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I depend wholly on the direct support of my readers.
You can provide that support to Behind The Black with a contribution via Patreon or PayPal. To use Patreon, go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. For PayPal click one of the following buttons:
If Patreon or Paypal don't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Yes, this sounds good on it’s face.
I’d prefer to hear, however, that any number of Departments would be ripe for wholesale downsizing, defunding, and outright elimination. Mitch & Ryan however, control that to a large degree, and they’ve shown zero inclination to reduce any spending whatsoever.
These people have been burrowing into the civil-service for almost 8 years. (and it’s not just confined to Obama) I fear it would just become a Show Vote, and they can’t make it retroactive. I do like the idea, I just don’t trust any of these clowns to implement it, and I want to hear the other 999 great idea’s to rapidly SHRINK the government
The only way to really get rid of these people, is to eliminate their phony baloney jobs.
Modern businessmen use a surprisingly thin layer of staff. The fewer they are, the greater share of the pie each one of the partners get, which motivates the chosen ones to work harder. That is the business logic which doesn’t exist in public sector. The logic in public sector is of course that other people pay and that you don’t need to care about the consequences of your actions. But a new emperor can infuse a lean management culture for a while. Governments were actually extremely lean before the world wars! Like my prime minister getting his first two secretaries only in the 1940s (both of whom later became PMs themselves!). Now our PM has 4000+ hired.
“- Why do you need any staff at all? You’re the secretary of state. You just visit and talk to people. Why do you need any staff for that? Make the opponent pay for the interpreter. I do most of your job anyway. I say you do better without any staff. I’m your staff. If you think you need a secretary, you’ve got salary enough to hire one yourself.”
Trump understands one fundamental rule of employment, ultimately there must exist the credible fear of losing your job and / or your pension if you are incompetent or are a “problem” employee (read, a bureaucrat like Lois Learner, that has your oppositions agenda at heart and works to stifle your progress)
Churchill, and this was during his attempted political comeback after the war, asked a surprised member of parliament to become foreign minister (secretary of state):
– This must be a mistake. I have never addressed any foreign issue in parliament. Nor have I ever even listened to any of those who do. I have never been abroad, except for war duty. I do not speak any foreign language. Sire prime minister, I don’t even like foreigners.
– (Churchill) All of that is to your advantage!
Obamas friend Erdogan is doing some lay offs too. Moving to Canada is actually a good idea for some individuals who oppose unity and greatness.