How Trump plans to cement control of government by dismantling the 'deep state'

By James Oliphant and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump is poised to seize greater control of the federal government than any modern president before him when he takes office on Monday, charging ahead with plans to dismantle what he and his allies call the "deep state," according to two sources familiar with transition discussions.

The effort could get underway as early as Trump's first day as president, according to one of the sources, with an executive order aimed at stripping job protections from an estimated 50,000 career federal employees, allowing their replacement by handpicked loyalist appointees. 

The Trump administration will also push to fill the thousands of political appointments across government as soon as possible, another source told Reuters. 

The goal is to inject political loyalists deep into the workings of government, perhaps more so that any other recent president.

In a harbinger of what may lie ahead, Trump's team has requested the resignation of three senior career diplomats who oversee the U.S. State Department's workforce and internal coordination, Reuters reported this week.

Trump allies blame bureaucrats they deem disloyal for thwarting his agenda during his first term in the White House by slow-walking initiatives in the Justice Department, the Department of Education and other agencies.

Nearly a dozen of Trump's top appointees for his second term have been given an explicit mandate to shake up the federal workforce or expressed support for those plans, according to personnel announcements and media interviews reviewed by Reuters.

Russell Vought, nominated by Trump to return as director of the Office of Management and Budget, played a central role in crafting an earlier version of the reclassification order, known as Schedule F, as Trump was leaving office in 2020.

The revived executive order on Schedule F would allow agency officials to reclassify positions from career posts to political appointments, one of the sources familiar with transition planning said.

That would enable the agencies to fire career employees without cause and replace them.

Vought will be aided during Trump's second term by Sergio Gor, who was nominated to head the White House personnel office.  

FIRING LINES

Others tasked with eradicating the "deep state" include Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, the possible next FBI director, Kash Patel, Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, national security adviser, Mike Waltz, education nominee Linda McMahon, and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will head up Trump's government efficiency effort, the Reuters review found.

When asked, Trump's transition team would not provide details on a timeline for the planned shakeup, which could take months due to federal rule-making procedures.

"The Trump Administration will have a place for people serving in government who are committed to defending the rights of the American people, putting America first, and ensuring the best use of working men and women's tax dollars," said spokesperson Brian Hughes.

Critics and the unions that represent federal workers say there is no such thing as a "deep state," and that Trump and his allies are trafficking in a conspiracy theory to justify an executive-branch power grab.

James Eisenmann, a lawyer and expert on federal workforce policy, said in an interview that Trump is mistaken that most government employees harbor an ideological agenda and noted that under current law, underperforming or insubordinate workers can be fired. 

Schedule F, he said, would create a culture of silence and fear that could affect job performance.

"People are going to be afraid to speak up or even suggest something helpful out of fear of getting fired," Eisenmann said. "When people are afraid, it's not easy to get them to do stuff."

Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Workers, said in an interview that the new classification was aimed at creating "a secret police" within the federal government.

"The incoming administration admits they will use Schedule F to subject professional employees to professional or to political loyalty tests and will get rid of the undesirables," he said. 

Hughes, the Trump transition spokesperson, did not respond to questions about what role individual nominees would play in carrying out Trump's agenda, or to the "secret police" allegation.

FINDING TARGETS

During Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday, Vought and Bondi expressed support for the policies behind Schedule F. 

Vought testified that he believes portions of the federal government have been "weaponized."

He declined to answer questions about whether he had advised Trump to conduct mass firings, but said reclassifying career employees would ensure the president has individuals in a policy-making role "who are responding to his views, his agenda."

Bondi, during her hearing, said Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe of Trump was evidence of partisanship within the Justice Department.

She vowed not to use the department to target people based on their politics, but dodged direct questions about investigating Trump's political adversaries.

The Biden Justice Department has long denied that it pursued criminal cases against Trump for political reasons. It did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The process of identifying members of the federal bureaucracy whose views could be at odds with the incoming administration has already begun. 

In December, the American Accountability Foundation, which operates with support from the conservative Heritage Foundation, sent a letter to Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth naming 20 leaders across the U.S. military whom it deemed to be overly focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Outgoing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has defended such efforts, saying the diverse military reflects the diversity of the United States.

The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the Trump transition team.

The American Accountability Foundation also published a "Top 10 Targets" list on its website of career employees at the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department it claims are resistant to increased border-security efforts.

There are more names to come, said Yitz Friedman, a spokesperson for the group.

(Reporting by James Oliphant and Steve Holland Additional reporting by Nandita Bose and Gram Slattery; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Suzanne Goldenberg)