Donald Trump and his right-wing flunkies hate the civil service. Time and time again, Trump has maligned the so-called “Deep State,” a tin foil hat conspiracy theory predicated on the (inane) idea that activist career bureaucrats worked tirelessly to undermine the Trump administration and the conservative movement. These entirely baseless rumors led Trump and his sycophant Russel Vought to revive Schedule F, a fringe legal theory that argues the president has the authority to fire disloyal government workers. Schedule F has been embraced by the Trump right (being celebrated by both his transition Chairwoman’s organization as well as enshrined in Project 2025), and now the Heritage Foundation is setting the stage for it.
ProPublica reported Heritage Staffers are currently submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests fishing for information that is bothersome to conservatives. Under the guise of good governance and transparency, the Heritage Foundation is seemingly laying the groundwork to terminate career employees. Why else would the beacon of modern conservatism spend time searching for communications of policy making staffers that include terms such as“climate equity” or even “voting?” In addition to cheapening the FOIA process, it is abundantly clear that the right, in the world where Trump is re-elected, wants to purge the federal government.
In October 2020, Trump issued the Schedule F executive order that removed the civil service protections of some career bureaucrats. The wide ranging order ostensibly primarily targeted policy making staff, but would affect as many as 50,000 federal workers (do you really think there are 50,000 distinct policymakers in the executive branch?). The order converted many of the civil service appointments to at-will employees allowing Trump to fire any of these staff at any time.
When the executive order was signed, there was almost immediate backlash from experts, government worker advocates, and the federal workforce to the decision. Partnership for Public Service President and CEO Max Stier said “Being able to place any number of existing career positions into this new Schedule F not only blurs the line between politics and the neutral competency of the career civil service, it obliterates it.” The original order not only targeted some arguably genuinely policy-related positions, but also office managers and even administrative staff. President Biden rescinded the order before any designations could occur.
In addition to the nakedly political nature of Schedule F, its enactment would have had catastrophic results in government efficiency. A study conducted by the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government studied the potential outcomes of Schedule F and found some of the following: more politically appointed bureaucrats would have a poorer performance overall and, in addition to that, more political appointments would ultimately lead to lower morale across the career staff. Schedule F proponents claim that this would streamline the federal government, but it appears it actually would have the opposite effect.
Heritage laying the foundation for a government purge of civil servants should surprise no one. It is outlined in both Trump’s official agenda and the Heritage-led Mandate for Leadership—better known as Project 2025. Heritage is utilizing the FOIA process purely to serve Donald Trump as well as attempting to vindicate right wing conspiracies about the so-called “Deep State.” The existence of a by-the-book, and fact-based, “Deep State” is something that clearly irked Trump, and eventually most Republicans, during his first four years in office. It is also one of the essential components of a nation state in the modern era dealing with everything from the rise of worldwide temperatures and China to the presence of potentially dangerous chemicals in food, water, and the air.