“Thing is, as I picture it, the majority of Federal employees Trump is counting on to carry out his programs and policies, his orders, are in positions which enable them to somehow obstruct, to willfully misinterpret, to only partially enforce, to “slow-walk,” or to even simply ignore his orders.” – Snow

I have long remembered a comment made about a much earlier Republican president:

When contemplating General Eisenhower winning the Presidential election, Truman said, “He’ll sit here, and he’ll say, ‘Do this! Do that!’ And nothing will happen. Poor Ike—it won’t be a bit like the Army. He’ll find it very frustrating.”

ATTRIBUTION: HARRY S. TRUMAN.—Richard E. Neustadt, Presidential Power, the Politics of Leadership, p. 9 (1960).

https://www.bartleby.com/73/1514.html

For police / security agents, one can transfer from or to State, Municipal, & Federal positions. For the military, special exemptions would be available for the top performing 50% each 5 years starting with 15 (and pay frozen until exemption, but no pay cut). The military has too many “top” generals & admirals.

There should be more changes in the hierarchies, more often. And especially in the administration office workers — they should more often come from and return to the private, profit making sectors of the economy.

I’ll believe in indictments against Deep Staters when I see them, tho I do pray for lots of indictments.

Of course, we know now that a major agenda of the Left is stuffing the prosecutors’ offices with partisans; they obviously have been working that gig for a long time.
Since FDR & the USSC, in fact.

There were a great many problems with the Tammany Hall machines, but they knew the value of surrounding themselves with their own people.

Civil Service was supposed to protect low-level jobs from patronage, so the Postmaster of Podunk didn’t get changed after every federal election and the desk-jockeys in the agencies had some continuity, but the idea that “civil service” meant “nonpartisan” was always a myth.

Rotating ultra-high-level staff (that serve at the President’s discretion) is not exactly non-controversial these days, but it is understood to be one of the Prez’s perks.

That middle ground, though, seems to be the real problem now. Some have civil service protections, but are still high enough up the ladder to be a speed-bump for administrations they don’t support. Others serve at discretion, but are low enough in the heirarchy chart that it doesn’t seem worth the effort to change them; yet, when from the opposing party, they can do significant damage.

The problem for GOP presidents is that Democrats are distinctly in the majority in those middle ranks, either through design or drift. I don’t know the stats — and doubt if the ratio is as lopsided as in academia — but have seen it mentioned more than once in the punditsphere.

“…buddy-buddy with the Soviet-imperialism-supporting Sandinistas.”

and had to break off and rush to tell you that if I were up for having anybody’s babies (thank the Great Frog, I’m not) you would be on the ultra-short list. :>))))

. . .

It is said, by people more politically knowledgeable than I, that Pres. Bush (43) made a terrible mistake in keeping on so many from the Sith’s administration on staff.

But I certainly think that’s true. And as I understand it, it was quite unusual.

The two key issues highlighted in the interviews surround President Trump’s economic policies: “he’s the party for jobs”; and President Trump’s immigration policies: “Ilhan Omar is not popular here.”

I usually look askance at conspiracy theories but one I can’t quite shake is that the financial crisis was engineered, possibly by Soros, with the intent of electing Obama. Recall that despite his shortcomings as a candidate McCain pulled ahead of Obama in the polls after he chose Palin for VP. But when the Secretary of the Treasury had to go on national TV and tell us we needed 800 billion dollars or the economy was going off the cliff the election was over. There was nothing McCain or any other Republican could have done. Not denying he handled it poorly but it didn’t matter. Trump’s biggest strength is the economy so they will try to target him there.

Speaking of the ‘federal civil service’ prior to the institution of the system of examinations ca. 1884 is an anachronism.

The spoils system lasted from 1828 to 1884. The one reference I’ve seen to it’s effect on federal employment estimated that about 20% of federal workers were replaced with a change in administrations.

But now, as the saying goes, “you have to pick your battles.”

While it is true that, on paper, you would think that President Trump has all sorts of Executive branch powers but, he is up against what may be a large majority—perhaps an overwhelming percentage of Federal civil servants—government officials he is supposedly in charge of, who are—many of them—apparently making direct and every effort to hamper and to bedevil him.

You also know that any steps he might take to fight back against his tormentors, or to fire them, will be portrayed by the MSM as the next step in Trump’s march towards dictatorship.

I’d love for Trump to fire a slew of obstructionist Federal employees, and to send a whole bunch of U.S. Marshals to some government agency, to escort selected government employee obstructionists out of the building, clutching a cardboard box, full of the contents of their cubicles.

Thing is, as I picture it, the majority of Federal employees Trump is counting on to carry out his programs and policies, his orders, are in positions which enable them to somehow obstruct, to willfully misinterpret, to only partially enforce, to “slow-walk,” or to even simply ignore his orders.

Given this, and the vast size of the Federal bureaucracy, any strikes he might make against those who oppose and thwart him have to be very carefully calculated, very carefully timed, and narrowly focused.

A case in point is probably all of the currently classified documents relating to the Russia hoax; documents which many people have been clamoring to be declassified, and which President Trump has said he has ordered declassified and released to the public, but which have not yet been declassified and released.

I expect that there has been a whole lot of “resistance” to the order, and all sorts of objections and obstructions placed in the way of this ordered declassification and release taking place.

Does President Trump try to fire all those who are refusing to expeditiously and to fully carry out his order—high and low—or does he just accept that his order will be “slow-walked,” but likely will, eventually, be carried out?

And, if he fires this obstructionist crew, will he be able to fire the next obstructionist crew, and the one after that?

Trump has already had to dump several major Administration officials, does he have enough power, is it practical to dump all the others who might not be that responsive to his orders, or on board with his programs and policies?

As a practical matter, I think not.

Indeed. And we are on the cusp of learning a very great deal more, also a part of DJT’s plan for 2020. The crimes will be rolling out from this fall all the way into the heart of campaign season next year. It will be a metaphorical Democrat bloodbath. Which, good.