Government Executive—"government's business news daily and the premier digital destination for senior leaders in the federal government's departments and agencies"—reported news from the White House that many suspected but which is now confirmed.
The Trump administration is making concerted efforts to purge the civil service of any employees not loyal to President Donald Trump.
Unlike political appointees, career civil servants are intended as the stability, keeping day to day operations of the federal government going from one administration to the next. Civil servants—like members of the military, elected officials and political appointees—take an oath of office, vowing to uphold the United States Constitution, the laws of the nation, and to protect the United States of America against threats, both foreign and domestic.
But the Trump administration made it clear since even before the 2017 inauguration that fealty to Donald Trump is the only vow that matters.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Monday on Fox News that the Trump administration is examining federal agencies to identify any employees not sufficiently loyal to President Trump to take actions to have them removed from federal service. The fact this activity violates numerous laws is apparently not enough of a concern for an official Trump spokesperson to announce the plan on Fox News.
Gidley said:
"It's not a secret that we want people in positions that work with this president, not against him, and too often we have people in this government—I mean the federal government is massive, with millions of people—and there are a lot people out there taking action against this president and when we find them we will take appropriate action."
Someone with a better grasp of constitutional law had a response for Trump however.
Former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posted in response to Gidley's official remarks on behalf of the Trump administration:
"Purging public servants disloyal to a regime is banana-republic stuff. Our federal employees work for the American people, not the president."
Trump spokesperson Gidley added:
"Time and time again we see in the media reports from people in the bowels of the federal government working against this President. [Federal workers are pushing] their own selfish political agenda."
Gidley stated as opposed to following the constraints placed on them by the Constitution, laws and federal regulations, civil servants should only be advancing and executing Trump's agenda.
The official White House spokesperson said:
"The President's been pretty clear about the fact he wants people in this administration who want to forward his agenda."
Then to justify forcing federal employees to ignore their oath of office, Gidley added:
"Donald Trump was the only one elected. He was the only one that the American people voted for. They didn't vote for someone at any of these other agencies, any of these other departments."
