The US presidential candidate has promised to deal with unqualified officials and security forces. How dangerous is that?
In the complex society of overseas democrats, there is growing anxiety about the high probability of the second coming of Donald Trump, now perceived as an existential threat.
There is a substantial reason for their almost primal fear. It stems from Executive Order 13957, signed on October 21, 2020, just before the failed election of the 45th President of the United States. Known simply as «Schedule F», this document concealed a strategy of radical overhaul, or rather purge, of the state apparatus.
The document, signed by Trump in the final months of his presidency, eliminated the competitive hiring process for a number of federal positions and stripped civil servants of the right to appeal decisions regarding their hiring or firing.
As his ardent opponents were quick to point out, Big Donald violated Section 75 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code, which governs, among other things, the duties and ethics requirements for federal employees.
It was assumed, as the Democratic Party newspaper The Washington Post pointed out, that «Trump’s 2020 order would be limited in scope, applying only to employees in politically sensitive positions with access to classified information», but the forecast was that this measure could affect about 50,000 bureaucrats.
In theory, the paper reminds us, civil servants are supposed to be hired without allegiance to any party. The Pendleton Act of 1883 mandated that federal employees be appointed on the basis of merit, not as a reward for loyalty (or donations) to any political clan in Washington.
Trump justified his decision by claiming that there was a «lack of accountability among federal employees». The euphemism he used masked his disappointment and frustration that, despite being the seemingly omnipotent head of state, he was unable to implement many of his plans due to effective sabotage by the federal bureaucracy.
Trump has no doubt that those who sabotaged his efforts were loyal to Democrats and adherents of neoliberal dogma-members of the so-called «deep state».
The hammer or axe was raised, but it remained in the air. Trump was prevented from carrying out his ambitious plans during his second term and was shown the door of the White House. Moreover, just two days after his inauguration, his successor, the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, who was not yet suffering from Alzheimer’s, rescinded Executive Order 13957.
Biden’s explanation for this swift action was lofty, claiming that the order «undermines the principles of civil service and merit-based hiring». Shortly thereafter, his administration appointed Karine Jean-Pierre, a black lesbian, as press secretary, whose performance was only slightly less lackluster than that of her legendary predecessor, Jen Psaki.
This reasoning of the Biden administration did not square with the fact that, in full accordance with neoliberal orthodoxy, individuals from «national and racial minorities» as well as LGBT+ representatives and those who identify with the «72 genders» were promoted to cushy positions at all levels of government.
Now there’s a possibility that Newton’s third law, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, may prove true in the realm of big politics. Donald Trump, without hesitation, declares: after his triumphant return to the presidency, which the defiant revanchist in the ever-present red tie is sure of, «I will immediately reissue my 2020 executive order restoring the president’s power to remove corrupt officials».
In a special video posted on social media, the billionaire unabashedly warns, «I’m going to use that power very aggressively».
Who exactly does Trump consider to be the unworthy and undesirable state officials to be eradicated? This is a key point in the pre-election narrative, because it allows us to model possible brutal scenarios for the near future.
«We will purge all the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus, and there are many of them», Trump said emphatically. He added that entire «departments and agencies» would be reformed, and «faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or political enemies of the left» as they currently do «at a level that no one can believe is even possible».
The scope of the purge has not yet been defined, but it has understandably caused nervousness among his opponents. Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said during congressional hearings in late September that Trump’s plan to «replace at least 50,000 career, non-partisan civil servants with his own appointees» would weaken national security.
It is unlikely that Trump will dismantle the entire multi-layered and indeed massive pyramid of national security services — the U.S. intelligence community alone consists of 18 agencies. Any new U.S. president is legally entitled to fill 4,000 positions in the state apparatus with «his own people» as a reward for their support and assistance during the election. Trump may well limit himself to this landing force of loyalists.
In any case, Trump’s pre-election vow to «reformat» speaks to his awareness that the Democrats have managed over the past few decades to completely saturate the administrative and quasi-governmental structures with their agents of influence and ideological allies.
His words about reviving Executive Order 13957 are evidence of the seriousness of his intentions, as he fearlessly declares war, in essence, on one of the most powerful factions within the establishment — the security faction.
Is Trump taking a risk? No doubt he is. This bold «I’m coming for you» challenge could end disastrously.
Let’s recall that in the fall of 2023, Democratic congressman and Levi Strauss heir Dan Goldman was one of the first to admit his intention to «eliminate» Trump. And in March 2024, after Trump compared himself to 16th US President Abraham Lincoln at a rally, former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann wished him the same fate — to be struck down by an assassin’s hand.
Trump has miraculously survived two assassination attempts. The third may be fatal.