17) Trump Plans to Obliterate a Major Firewall for our Democracy: The Civil Service

Reason #17 to Vote Blue on Nov 5

It was Republican President James Garfield who actually took a bullet for democracy.

Trump recently claimed that “I took a bullet for democracy.” EVERYTHING ABOUT TRUMP IS ANTI-DEMOCRACY, so his claim is ludicrous. Why do I say that?

He continues to state that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him and so, really, he was elected. This is in spite of all court decisions, law enforcement investigations, recounts, and wasteful lawsuits his lawyers brought before various judges over many months… saying the opposite. In spite of his entire White House team telling him in December of 2020 – you lost the election. He has turned the nation’s faith in our democracy upside down with these lies (or willful incompetence or lack of intelligence).
He begged and threatened the Georgia Secretary of State to change the election count in Georgia. It was criminal behavior in plain ear-shot. This is putting a bullet INTO democracy, not taking a bullet FOR democracy.
He has encouraged violence at election rallies and at press conferences. That is putting a bullet INTO democracy, not taking a bullet FOR democracy.
He talks like a bully (words and style). In fact, moments after claiming he “took a bullet for democracy” he is back to denigrating his opponents with personal attack words (Laughin’ Kamala. Pelosi-Crazy as a bedbug.) That is putting a bullet INTO the democratic process, not taking a bullet FOR democracy.

He continues to state that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him and so, really, he was elected. This is in spite of all court decisions, law enforcement investigations, recounts, and wasteful lawsuits his lawyers brought before various judges over many months… saying the opposite. In spite of his entire White House team telling him in December of 2020 – you lost the election. He has turned the nation’s faith in our democracy upside down with these lies (or willful incompetence or lack of intelligence).
He begged and threatened the Georgia Secretary of State to change the election count in Georgia. It was criminal behavior in plain ear-shot. This is putting a bullet INTO democracy, not taking a bullet FOR democracy.
He has encouraged violence at election rallies and at press conferences. He talks like a bully (words and style). That is putting a bullet INTO democracy, not taking a bullet FOR democracy.
That is a starter list – why Trump is Anti-Democracy.
And by the way, for most Republicans with a bit more understanding than Trump, it is common for them to remind you, should you say “America is a democracy” — that “NO IT IS NOT! It is a republic. Not a democracy.” Well, yes the original Constitution was a limited democratic republic technically. On the other hand, the Constitution was amended 27 times, and I’d say that 21 of those changes increased our degree of democracy. We still have a way to go!

President Garfield Really Did Take a Bullet for Democracy

On the other hand, James Garfield’s assassination after less than 5 months in office in 1881 was directly a result of his standing up for a political reform designed to reduce cronyism, nepotism, and corruption in government job appointments all of which inhibit democracy. It was called the Civil Service and Reform Act.

From the 1820s to 1880 the government was run by the “spoils system,” a term that derives from the phrase: “to the victors belong the spoils.” Meaning, those who win the election get to give government jobs as a rewards for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party. Campaign payments and political party payments were standard requirements for a government job (a postal worker, a tariff tax collector, prosecutors, etc).

Many felt that the spoils system worked against the actual will of the people, that democracy was thwarted by corruption. Efforts to reform the system, such as a proposal by Senator Pendleton in 1880 were defeated in Congress.

As I said, Garfield supported the civil service reforms, although many “Stalwarts” in his party did not. Then, he was shot by a man who had not gotten a government job that he thought Garfield should have provided him. The general public had supported reforms for “civil service” employees for some time, and Garfield’s assassination made many clamor more for passage. Let’s end job hand-outs to the unqualified.

So, Pendleton’s Civil Service and Reform Act was reintroduced and finally passed in 1883. It provided for selection of some government employees by merit and expertise rather than ties to politicians, and made it illegal to fire or demote some government officials for political reasons.

The act initially applied only to ten percent of federal jobs, but it allowed the president to expand the number of federal employees covered by the act. Over time, additional reforms occurred and Presidents expanded the “non-political civil service” employee ratio from the original 10% to 90%… until Trump.

In 1978, another reform act abolished the long standing Civil Service Commission. Civil Service enforcement was then reassigned to 3 agencies. The Merit Systems Protection Board was one of the agencies. It was this Board’s function to conduct hearings and resolve any instances of a civil servant’s belief that they may have been fired or disciplined unjustly, including political reasons.

From the start, Trump defamed civil servants, calling them the “Deep State.” He only wanted yes-man loyalists in the civil service no matter what their qualifications for an environmental engineer or budget statistician or national park historian.

He made sure that the Merit Systems Protection Board could not function by ensuring it never had a quorum (he left the Board with only one member). More alarmingly, in the last months of his Presidency, Trump re-asserted his ability to hire/fire more of these non-political employees. He did this by something called “Schedule F.”

If re-elected in 2024 he has promised to “totally obliterate the deep state. We will obliterate the state and I know exactly who they are.”

Trump doesn’t want a “civil service.” He wants loyal servants. In the next pandemic, if he orders an agency to arrange for bleach injections, they must do that or be fired. Loyalty is the only requirement.