There are countless important workers behind the scenes who keep the government running. The president, vice president and the speaker of the House usually get the majority of the attention. But positions such as scientists and doctors working for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Aviation Administration officers and federal law enforcement officers play a crucial role in government. Traditionally, they are non-partisan, operating independent of the national politics,
With Donald J. Trump elected to return for his second stint as the 47th President of the United States, he is expected to execute a plan to replace those vital government workers with people who are aligned with his political beliefs.
Trump’s stated plan for his second term in office is even more extreme than his first. With the outline of Project 2025 — which while Trump distanced itself from it was created by his MAGA movement — he could possibly fundamentally change the way the federal government functions. His plans to reform most major institutions, including getting rid of the Department of Education, potentially restructures the nation.
“This change would not only hinder our government’s efficiency,” Michigan senator Gary Peters said during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Sept. 17., 2024. “It would be disastrous for the American people. It would slow down services, make us less prepared when disaster strikes and erode public trust in government.”
There are two kinds of federal employees.
Around 2 million have merit-based positions, meaning those employees were chosen because of their qualifications to perform specific jobs. Those come with employee protections. They can’t be fired for political reasons because their job is apolitical. Those employees stay in their roles over multiple administrations, building experience in their field to help the government run smoothly.
Then there are about 4,000 politically appointed employees, such as cabinet secretaries. These employees are attached to the current administration in power and leave when a new administration is set to take office.
At the center of Project 2025, written by the Heritage Foundation, is Schedule F. As John Oliver broke down on his show Last Week Tonight,” Project 2025 looks to re-label the merit-based workers as “Schedule F” employees, making them political appointees. Doing so would allow him to strip those people of their employment protections, making him free to relieve and replace them. Instead of working for an independent institution, they would work directly for the president. He could fill as many as 50,000 federal jobs with people who support and are willing to execute MAGA ideals nationwide.
Project 2025 has assembled a database of prospective hires for the entire federal government, calling for their supporters who want to make a difference to sign up for a potential position.
It would give Trump unprecedented power over the federal government as he could potentially bypass some of the checks and balances set up by the Constitution. Theoretically, he’d avoid Congress altogether by enacting policy simply by ordering his loyalists to carry out his plans.
For example, he could bypass Congress’ vote on a nationwide ban on abortion drugs. Instead of going through that process to create a bill, Trump could just have his newly staffed FDA declare those drugs to be unsafe. In the Project 2025 plan, the President would have the FDA reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs.
“Do you want people doing scientific research of a nuclear regulatory commission, who don’t have the qualifications to perform that kind of work?” Jacqueline Simon, the policy director of the American Federation of Government Employees said in an interview with CNN. “Their only qualification (would be) an allegiance to the Trump agenda.”
The goal is to set up an army of vetted trained staff who would be able to help change the administrative state from day one. It would make it much easier for Trump to enact many of Project 2025’s more extreme plans, giving him much more control over potential pushback from those career civil servants who are meant to serve the country, not the president’s wishes.
Even if Trump isn’t able to create the extreme change he wants right away, Schedule F would still create problems for the government. It would lead to people who have proper experience in their position being replaced by members of the MAGA movement, who would be put into those positions due to their allegiance to Trump. It figures to result in a mass exodus of competence in the federal government.
This wouldn’t be the first time Trump would pass Schedule F.
A few weeks before election day against Joe Biden, Trump passed Executive Order 13957, creating Schedule F. Once Biden was in office, he rescinded the order. This time, Trump is looking to enact Schedule F in the early part of his term, giving it a full four years to impact the government.
It would also create a lasting impact, with the next President elected into office after Trump faced with a decision — do you replace those 50,000 positions with your own loyalists, or do you take down Schedule F as Biden did in 2020?
The passing of Schedule F would be just one step of Trump’s far more comprehensive plan for this second term in office. Having gained presidential experience during his first term and organizational support from future Schedule F employees, Trump will be more able to exercise his ideas successfully. If it works like he and his staff hope, it could result in the majority of Project 2025 coming to pass.
Top photo: Getting a job with the federal government used to be one of the most secure in the nation. But with Donald Trump returning to the White House, that could change. (Photo courtesy of Envato Elements)
Jakob Arnarsson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @JakobA2004
