Yesterday Donald Trump tripled the size of his personal political army inside the government. Illegally. And almost no one noticed.
Here's what happened:
He signed an order converting ~8,000 of the most senior career officials in government into employees he can fire for any reason, or no reason at all.
These aren't rando's. They're the directors, chiefs of staff, and the people who write the rules or decide who gets federal money, i.e. the lieutenants right below his political appointees.
Until yesterday, they answered to the law. Now they answer to him.
A president normally gets ~4,000 political appointees. People he can bring into government and fire at will. I was one of them at DHS. You serve at his pleasure, full stop -- so if you're gonna speak truth to power, you're prepared to quit (or get fired if he doesn't like it).
The rest of the federal government is PROTECTED from firing if they tell the truth.
But Trump just stripped those protections. Adding 8,000 more people to his personal army. Overnight. Without asking Congress.
With the stroke of a pen, those people now serve at the pleasure of the president. They're "his" people, whether they like it or not.
And the chilling effect is real. An official who can be fired this afternoon for "subversion of presidential directives" (the order's own words) doesn't need to be hand-picked to know what's expected of him or her.
The threat does all the work.
By the way, this order is illegal. The law only lets Trump reclassify jobs when "necessary" in exceptional circumstances. And this blows an 8,000-person hole in the merit hiring / firing system created by Congress.
Without permission, Trump has created a whole new category of stormtroopers inside the Executive Branch.
If this doesn't get challenged in court, you're going to see the U.S. government become a very different place.
Here's the full story: https://t.co/mJzrvzhxGR
More than half of the publicly identified donors to President Trump’s White House ballroom project have won new or expanded federal contracts worth more than $50 billion, according to a report from a government watchdog group. https://t.co/wEAqxMA7AG
The screwworm has shaken Texas agriculture previously. Those who lived through it in the 1950s say it was commonplace for ranchers to "scoop handfuls of worms from cattle" and other livestock. Herds decimated. Beef prices could soar, markets rattled. Buckle up, #TxLege
He OVd to Ole Miss and Ole Miss didn't have a spot for him until LSU tampered with Dottery and then Ferrelli got back in the Transfer Portal and went to Ole Miss.
If you are going to tell the story...Then tell the story
Aug: Announcement no 6th grade sports.
Spring: they are closing 10 schools.
Last week of school: no more foreign languages
Today: they are cutting all fine arts
FUCK YOU @GregAbbott_TX and @Burrows4TX and @DanPatrick. You are proof that politicians fail Texans!
The Moms who are tax payers and are sick of your shit!