Washington View is Ben Smith’s new column, aimed at helping our readers understand the Trump administration as it seeks to remake the US government and American society and reshape everything from private enterprise to global trade.
More than 22,000 federal employees lost their jobs in DC, Maryland, and Virginia from January to May, according to the Richmond Fed. They include members of the top ranks at institutions from the CDC and IRS to the FBI and NSA, pockets of American permanent government that have long weathered changes in presidential administration.
When the CDC head refused to implement changes to vaccine policy and fire subordinates, she lost her job immediately, as did they. When the politician appointed to run the IRS appeared to side with the permanent staff, President Donald Trump literally sent him to Iceland.
Shattering the job security once afforded to the permanent government will have been one of Trump’s signal and lasting achievements, no matter how the rest of his term goes. So I spent some time last week trying to understand how this crusade is seen inside a White House that has gone further, faster, than either friends or enemies expected.
“It’s a directive from one person — the president,” one top official centrally involved in reshaping the government said. “‘Get it done’ is the name of the game.”
Part of the velocity of change comes from a fervor that began last summer: “The attitude stems from the president getting shot at Butler,” said another White House official. “There is no time to waste — by definition, this is a one-term president.”
Elon Musk, for a time, defined this assault and captivated public attention. But the “tip of the spear,” as a top White House ally put it, is deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who in February offered one of the most important explanations of this administration’s outlook. Trump, he said, is “removing federal bureaucrats who are defying democracy by failing to implement his lawful orders, which are the will of the whole American people.”
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