The authors warn that President Trump is systematically undermining the independence of federal institutions by replacing career officials with political loyalists and weakening safeguards meant to keep decisions nonpartisan. They cite threats to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, large-scale departures from the federal workforce, cuts to the Senior Executive Service, removal of inspectors general, and reductions in oversight units like the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. The piece argues these changes politicize expert decision-making and risk returning the U.S. to the corrupt spoils system of the 19th century.
Opinion: How Trump Is Hollowing Out ‘Public’ From Public Service
This month, President Donald Trump publicly threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if Powell does not step down when his term as chair ends, repeatedly attacking him with epithets such as “incompetent,” “crooked,” “a jerk,” “a TOTAL LOSER,” and “TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL.” A federal judge overseeing a related probe found “essentially zero evidence” of criminal conduct and suggested subpoenas of Fed records were aimed at pressuring Powell to vote for lower interest rates or to resign.
A Pattern, Not An Incident
Mr. Trump’s push to replace Powell with a more compliant Fed chair fits a broader, systematic effort to convert independent federal officials into political loyalists. Congress created independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve to ensure decisions about banking, markets, public health and workplace safety rest on expertise rather than partisan pressure. Since returning to office, however, the administration has dismissed dozens of independent agency leaders and installed successors whose primary qualification appears to be willingness to follow White House directives.
Institutional Changes and Personnel Moves
The administration has asked the Supreme Court to weaken legal protections that insulate independent agencies from political interference — a move Justice Elena Kagan warned could “put massive, uncontrolled, unchecked power in the hands of the president.” A sweeping executive order also directs independent agencies to designate White House liaisons, “coordinate policies and priorities” with the White House, and submit all “significant regulatory actions” for presidential review.
At the same time, the administration has reshaped the federal workforce to prioritize loyalty over merit, experience and technical expertise. More than 300,000 federal employees resigned, retired or were fired last year, the Senior Executive Service — the government’s top career civilian leadership corps — has been cut by roughly 30 percent, and many longstanding civil-service protections have been pared back or removed.
Targets, Oversight and the Rule of Law
Career officials who place adherence to the law above political fealty have faced swift consequences. Examples include a senior Justice Department immigration lawyer suspended after acknowledging in court that a man was wrongfully deported, and a career prosecutor who raised concerns about the strength of a case involving a former CIA director and was replaced by a former Trump campaign lawyer. More than 100 executive-branch immigration judges deemed insufficiently aggressive on enforcement have been removed or replaced, and job postings now explicitly seek “patriotic legal professionals to serve as Deportation Judges.”
The administration has also weakened internal oversight: days after returning to office, 19 inspectors general who detect fraud, waste and abuse across Cabinet-level agencies were dismissed, and at least four more were removed later — a total greater than that of all previous presidents combined. The Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section has been reduced from 36 lawyers to just two, limiting the government’s capacity to tackle official misconduct.
“Loyalty to country, always; loyalty to government, when it deserves it.” — Mark Twain
Why This Matters
When expertise yields to political obedience, crucial decisions — from interest rates to vaccine policies, environmental regulations, education standards and national-security choices — risk being driven by partisan considerations rather than evidence and law. Corruption becomes harder to detect, law enforcement risks politicization, and skilled professionals leave public service. The consequence is that the “public” in public service — the citizens who depend on competent, impartial government — lose out.
Americans enacted civil-service reform in the 19th century to end the spoils system that bred corruption and incompetence. The current trends risk returning us to those same dangers.
David Wippman is Emeritus President of Hamilton College. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.
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