The rising probability of another Trump administration brings in its wake dire warnings that a second-term Donald Trump will replace career bureaucrats with political appointees. Washington Monthlyforetells that Trump’s re-election will mean “out with the nonpartisan experts loyal to the law; in with the cronies loyal to Trump.” Experience, however, suggests that adding political appointees would benefit the next administration.
During the first Trump administration, political appointees very often paid greater heed to the law and the Constitution than did career bureaucrats. To drain the swamp more effectively the second time around, the Trump administration will need more, and better, appointees.
As a Trump appointee who led an office of career staff, I found that most federal bureaucrats carried out the orders handed down by the White House even though most had voted against the president. Nevertheless, subversives abounded in my agency and in most others. The subversion arose from the culture of the administrative state, rather than a centralized conspiracy, which ensured its survival on the few occasions when subversives received punishments.
