7 - Populism and the Deep State: The Attack on Public Service Under Trump

Summary

This chapter addresses the ways in which the Trump administration has exemplified and accelerated a long-term trend toward democratic backsliding in the United States by undermining public sector institutions. The Trump administration has sidelined administrative expertise and scientists in many areas, selecting senior leaders whose lack of qualification is frequently matched only by their disdain for their organizational mission, and shown a willingness to push the boundaries of the law beyond its breaking point. While avoiding a direct attack on civil service legislation, the Trump administration has sought to weaken the ability of public sector unions to negotiate for benefits, punished individuals and units deemed not to be politically loyal, and weakened oversight bodies such as the Merit Systems Protection Board. All of this has been accompanied by a rhetoric of delegitimization, wherein the President and his supporters frequently invoke conspiratorial theories of deep state plots. These tendencies, and the costs that they raise, are illustrated both in President Trump’s impeachment process and a botched response to the coronavirus pandemic.