Political Appointments US Civil Service

Most federal jobs are filled through merit-based hiring, but the president has the authority to appoint political officials to important policymaking roles. A publication called United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, commonly referred to as "The Plum Book," lists these positions. Individuals in these "plum" roles can influence the bureaucracy to align with the president's wishes. To identify suitable candidates, the Office of Presidential Personnel looks for two main traits.

The first trait is loyalty to the president's agenda. The White House aims to select appointees who support its policies, but sometimes these individuals become less enthusiastic due to the influence of career bureaucrats. To help mitigate this issue, recent administrations have conducted regular briefings for appointees. Some appointees, however, still struggle to adapt, leading to brief and troubled tenures. For example, in early 2002, an assistant secretary of the army testified to the Senate Budget Committee that the president was requesting inadequate funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, resulting in his dismissal by the Bush administration. The press secretary stated that while the president encourages healthy discussions, those working for him should ultimately back the proposed budget.

After serving one term as president, during which his promise to 'Drain the Swamp' was largely ignored, Donald Trump has again committed in 2024 to target the "deep state." if he wins in November, he will replace long-standing civil servants with his supporters.

If Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance manage to implement their vision for the federal workforce, it would represent the most significant change in the U.S. government in 140 years.

Critics, including independent analysts, worry that Trump’s plan to install loyalists in place of thousands of civil servants could revive a system similar to the 19th-century “spoils” system, which Congress abolished in the late 1800s due to widespread incompetence and favoritism.

Throughout much of the 1800s, the understanding was that government jobs were awarded based on personal connections to presidents, rather than qualifications or expertise.

Congress took steps to eradicate the spoils system in 1883, shortly after a frustrated job-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield, believing he deserved a government position.

Trump's Schedule F Plan

The second trait is knowledge. Donald Devine, former director of the Office of Personnel Management, emphasized that understanding the details of administration is essential because a political leader who lacks this knowledge may lose control over policy, which is their primary duty. While presidents typically seek policy experts, they may also opt for individuals with broader government or management experience who can quickly grasp policy specifics. For instance, President Obama appointed Leon Panetta, the CIA director, to lead the Defense Department, despite Panetta’s limited military background, because of his extensive government experience and ability to learn swiftly.

Presidents have significant leeway in hiring and firing political appointees, but their choices can face criticism. President George W. Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales received backlash for dismissing several federal prosecutors. One of the dismissed prosecutors noted that, unlike other political appointees, they are expected to remain nonpartisan once in office. He argued that the administration had deviated from this principle, stating that he and others lost their positions because they were not aggressive enough in investigating allegations of misconduct involving Democrats.

Case study : Inspectors General

In the United States, Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a generic term for the oversight division of a federal or state agency aimed at preventing inefficient or unlawful operations within their parent agency. Such offices are attached to many federal executive departments, independent federal agencies, as well as state and local governments. Each office includes an inspector general (or IG) and employees charged with identifying, auditing, and investigating fraud, waste, abuse, embezzlement and mismanagement of any kind within the executive department.

In 1978, Congress provided for offices of inspector general (IG) in federal organizations. T hese offices were to run independent investigations into bureaucratic operations and make recommendations to stop waste. The president names inspectors general at cabinet depart ments and major agencies, subject to Senate confirmation. Heads of other agencies pick their own inspectors general. There are 73 such offices, with about 14,700 staff.

Inspectors general often receive their initial information from whistleblowers, public employees who suspect waste or misconduct and decide to report on it. Under federal law, superiors may not retaliate against whistleblowers.

In 2020, Donald Trump dismissed or replaced five inspectors general within six weeks. Two permanent inspectors general were dismissed and three acting inspectors general were replaced.Just after firing intelligence inspector general Michael Atkinson, Trump criticized Atkinson as having done a "terrible job" and that he "took a fake report and he brought it to Congress", in reference to the whistleblower complaint of the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which other testimony and evidence largely verified. Trump also described Atkinson as "not a big Trump fan". Around one month before Trump replaced Christi Grimm as acting health inspector general, he had called her report of shortages of medical supplies in American hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States as "wrong", "fake", and "her opinion", despite the report being based on a survey of 323 hospitals. Trump also questioned Grimm's motives for the report.