Former President Donald Trump and his supporters have long said that his agenda was hobbled by the “Deep State,” a term used to describe entrenched and ideologically motivated federal bureaucrats.
While Trump has yet to even announce whether he will run in 2024, a new report claims the former president already has a plan to purge his enemies from positions of power.
What it means
Published by Axios this past Saturday, the article focused on an executive order that Trump signed just prior to the 2020 election.
It classified federal workers whose roles involve “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating” under a new category known as “Schedule F.”
Those workers who receive the designation would be stripped of civil service employment protections, making them far easier to replace.
More details
The change was far-reaching and could have affected as many as 50,000 federal bureaucrats. However, Axios explained that it was rescinded after President Joe Biden took office.
“The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service,” the piece explained.
It also reported that “well-funded groups” are composing lists of individuals who are “committed to Trump and his agenda” that could be called upon to replace purged officials.
One of those organizations is the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), an entity founded by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. Axios described DeMint as being a conservative “firebrand” who was “the bane of Mitch McConnell’s existence when he served in Congress.
“Working on plans”
It added that the Schedule F order goes “well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service.”
Instead, “Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon.”
Axios noted that Trump declared during a rally in South Carolina this past March, “We will pass critical reforms making every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States. The deep state must and will be brought to heel.”