-Frank’s Republican friends tried to reassure others that a second Trump term would be similar to the first. It is clear now that is completely wrong and he is seeking revenge. He is just as radical as he appears. Frank is expecting the worst.
-Elon Musk and Doge are not the biggest worry to the administrative state. DOGE seems to largely be created to keep Elon busy. It is not DOGE carrying out Project 2025, but rather a guy by the name of Russ Vought who is quite talented at carrying out his job.
-To give an idea of how wide Vought’s power has been so far, many interns from Stanford Law School who were going to work at the Justice Department had their internships cancelled.
-Marco Rubio as Secretary of State is not too objectionable, but Pete Hegseth, Tulsi, and Kash Patel show a complete contempt for governance. They are not just underqualified, but are actively hostile to these organizations.
-Why is it important to have an apolitical civil service? It provides all the functions to the government. When it is politicized, you risk getting something akin to Trump’s stance towards California’s wildfires where he is threatening aid to states that are less loyal to him.
-Wokeism in the health service? Frank says the premise of out of control liberal wokesters is wrong. Many in the government have a liberal bias, but their effects are extremely limited. That letter for “racial justice” during Covid and the BLM protests Frank believes not many people read it or took it seriously.
-If one wants to deregulate the bureaucracy, fewer rules must be written for them, not more. The real problem with our bureaucracy is not that they are out of control, it’s that they are too regulated. The single biggest thing that has to be deregulated is not with the private sector, but with the public sector. Their ability to do something as simple as buying an office desk is extremely constrained and limited.
-This feeds into stereotypes about bureaucracy, that they are slow, noncompliant, and inefficient, but when they are expected to do busywork such as excessive busywork, their ability is highly constrained. For example an annual report of the dollar coin.
-Many liberals want to use government in an activist form, but the “procedural fetish” that exists in so much of governance makes governance less efficient. There are some aspects that the Trump administration can do to alleviate this such as reforming some DEI policies, but Frank believes that the new admin will be focused on revenge and filling positions with their own allies.
-The instinct to rule by executive orders shows the dysfunction of Congress and is extremely dangerous. Many of them will remain in place but others will be repealed by the courts, including the Supreme Court which will only feed into MAGA’s frustration. A crisis involving a series of judges opposed to Trump’s executive orders can be expected. The biggest example of this will likely be Trump’s attempt to repeal the 14th Amendment.
GenerousPot on
Fantastic write-up.
Okbuddyliberals on
Women’s rights, healthcare, trans rights, an apolitical civil service, basic government research and aid domestically and to other countries, Ukraine’s independence, a foreign policy free from blatant colonialism, it’s clear that all these things and more are on the chopping block, and it sucks
3 Comments
**Summary**
**On the Deep State**
-Frank’s Republican friends tried to reassure others that a second Trump term would be similar to the first. It is clear now that is completely wrong and he is seeking revenge. He is just as radical as he appears. Frank is expecting the worst.
-Elon Musk and Doge are not the biggest worry to the administrative state. DOGE seems to largely be created to keep Elon busy. It is not DOGE carrying out Project 2025, but rather a guy by the name of Russ Vought who is quite talented at carrying out his job.
-To give an idea of how wide Vought’s power has been so far, many interns from Stanford Law School who were going to work at the Justice Department had their internships cancelled.
-Marco Rubio as Secretary of State is not too objectionable, but Pete Hegseth, Tulsi, and Kash Patel show a complete contempt for governance. They are not just underqualified, but are actively hostile to these organizations.
-Why is it important to have an apolitical civil service? It provides all the functions to the government. When it is politicized, you risk getting something akin to Trump’s stance towards California’s wildfires where he is threatening aid to states that are less loyal to him.
-Wokeism in the health service? Frank says the premise of out of control liberal wokesters is wrong. Many in the government have a liberal bias, but their effects are extremely limited. That letter for “racial justice” during Covid and the BLM protests Frank believes not many people read it or took it seriously.
-If one wants to deregulate the bureaucracy, fewer rules must be written for them, not more. The real problem with our bureaucracy is not that they are out of control, it’s that they are too regulated. The single biggest thing that has to be deregulated is not with the private sector, but with the public sector. Their ability to do something as simple as buying an office desk is extremely constrained and limited.
-This feeds into stereotypes about bureaucracy, that they are slow, noncompliant, and inefficient, but when they are expected to do busywork such as excessive busywork, their ability is highly constrained. For example an annual report of the dollar coin.
-Many liberals want to use government in an activist form, but the “procedural fetish” that exists in so much of governance makes governance less efficient. There are some aspects that the Trump administration can do to alleviate this such as reforming some DEI policies, but Frank believes that the new admin will be focused on revenge and filling positions with their own allies.
-The instinct to rule by executive orders shows the dysfunction of Congress and is extremely dangerous. Many of them will remain in place but others will be repealed by the courts, including the Supreme Court which will only feed into MAGA’s frustration. A crisis involving a series of judges opposed to Trump’s executive orders can be expected. The biggest example of this will likely be Trump’s attempt to repeal the 14th Amendment.
Fantastic write-up.
Women’s rights, healthcare, trans rights, an apolitical civil service, basic government research and aid domestically and to other countries, Ukraine’s independence, a foreign policy free from blatant colonialism, it’s clear that all these things and more are on the chopping block, and it sucks