Donald Trump has plans to clean up the so-called “deep state” beyond what any president has done before if he runs for and wins the presidency in 2024, and up to 50,000 government employees could find themselves on the chopping block.
The former president would move in if re-elected with a plan now being drawn up to “drain the swamp” and free tens of thousands of civil servants from their typically apolitical roles, according to an Axios report.
He purged the Pentagon, Justice Department, State Department and beyond of middle-level personnel and brought in thoroughly screened candidates who were found to more closely align with his America First agenda.
After interviewing over a dozen Trump-world insiders, the outlet’s investigation revealed that Trump plans to use an executive order called “Schedule F,” which he issued in October 2020 and which Biden later revoked.
The order would reclassify tens of thousands of civil servants believed to have some influence over policy as Schedule F workers, stripping them of their employment protections.
New presidents typically replace about 4,000 policy appointees to adjust agencies to their new agenda, but among them are a mass of federal employees who enjoy strong employment protections and typically continue their roles from one administration to the next.
The Trump official who drafted the Schedule F order said it could apply to up to 50,000 of the roughly two million federal employees. Other Trump allies say the number won’t be nearly as high because firing a smaller segment of anti-Trump “bad apples” would be enough to trigger a “change in behavior.”
This could rob middle government employees of any sense of job stability and set a new precedent forcing future new presidents to seek and deploy their own loyalists throughout the bureaucracy.
Russ Vought, the former head of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, is reportedly working on plans to make the security clearance process less onerous so more government employees could be appointed to political appointments.
“We are deliberately bringing in the toughest, bravest fighters with the know-how and credibility to crush the deep state,” Vought told Axios.
Donald Trump has plans to clean up the so-called “deep state” beyond what any president has done before if he runs for and wins the presidency in 2024, and up to 50,000 government employees could find themselves on the chopping block
While Trump and many of his former top aides and allies no longer speak to each other, the former president relies on a tight cadre of still-trusted former advisers who work with conservative organizations to source talent. It is also believed that for top jobs Trump will only hire those who have been most active in supporting his allegations of voter fraud in 2020.
Jeffrey Clark, a controversial attorney who championed a plan to contest the election results and now finds himself in the crosshairs of the January 6 Committee and the FBI, is a potential candidate for attorney general.
Sources close to the former president said Ric Grenell has a good shot at the nomination for a secretary of state. As acting director of national intelligence, Grenell ended up being one of Trump’s favorite officials as he worked to declassify footage from the Trump-Russia investigation. Grenell, who now works at Newsmax, told the network earlier this year: “I’m not going to stop until we have charges [Trump’s former FBI director] Jim Comey.’
Kash Patel, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller’s chief of staff at the time of the Capitol attack, would likely be in line for a top national security position in the White House. If he could make it through Senate confirmation, he could even be appointed CIA or FBI director, according to Trump allies.
Patel was a key author behind former Rep. Devin Nunes’ memo, which accused the Justice Department and FBI of abusing surveillance laws in a politically motivated attempt to bring down Trump.
The former president would move in if re-elected with a plan now being devised to “drain the swamp” and free tens of thousands of civil servants from their typically non-political roles
Former Trump officials still in his orbit working to develop personnel, policy and legal plans for a possible future presidency include Vought, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former adviser Stephen Miller, Ed Corrigan, Wesley Denton, Brooke Rollins, James Sherk, Andrew Kloster and Troup Hemenway.
Others who may stay close and be in contention for another White House role include Dan Scavino, John McEntee, Richard Grenell, Kash Patel, Robert O’Brien, David Bernhardt, John Ratcliffe, Peter Navarro and Pam Bondi.