WASHINGTON When the former president Donald Trump left the White House almost four years ago, there was an eerie atmosphere on the streets of Washington.
There was not a soul of the cross on the streets, although Washington is usually filled with people on Inauguration Day.
The silence was partly due to the corona pandemic, but above all to the fact that everyone was afraid of violence. The city center was closed off with barricades, and the National Guard patrolled the streets. It was less than a month after the Congress attack.
Unprecedented, they said at the time.
In recent days, however, the word “unprecedented” has lost its meaning. It is due to the return of Donald Trump and especially the preliminary ministerial appointments.
An eerily depressed mood has once again descended on Washington. In everyday conversations, administrative workers wonder whether they will be allowed to continue their jobs – and even if they are allowed, whether it fits their own values.
The capital is once again becoming a battleground, but this time neither the barricades nor the National Guard will help.
Namely, the attack is not physical, but its target is knowledge and professionalism.
Washington is a citywho is familiar with power changes. Officials are used to working with both parties regardless of their own position.
The party that won the elections has always had the power to decide what kind of things thousands of civil servants focus on and with what budget.
Take, for example, education policy. Republican George W. Bush during the presidency, the Ministry of Education created a system based on standardized tests, where schools were evaluated based on students’ test results. Democrat Barack Obama dismissed Bush’s ideas as a failure and directed his Department of Education to focus on teacher evaluation and expanding the network of so-called semi-private charter schools.
Changes were therefore made in politics, which were partly ideological, as well as ministerial appointments. But in both cases, the decision-making was guided by the research data and what kind of proposals were presented by experts familiar with pedagogy and the school system.
Changes progress slowly, because that’s what decision-making based on information is like. Research takes time, as well as informing about their results, developing new ideas and selling change proposals to the voters.
This slowness – combined with the misjudgments of both presidential administrations – has led to citizen frustration. Right now, the vast majority of Americans think that the country’s school system is headed in the wrong direction.
It has been fertile ground for Trump, who has simplified the problem and found the culprit in the civil service. Trump wants to blow up the entire system and would like, for example, to abolish the entire Ministry of Education.
Trump named in his first term people who were often unexpected choices as ministers. Still, they mostly had a knowledge base related to the field of the ministry they headed or a lot of experience in administrative tasks.
This will not be the case in Trump’s second term. The ministerial candidates announced so far have two things in common above all: loyalty to Trump and the suspicion of experts.
The defense ministers of the first term were experienced generals and administrative professionals with a background in the defense forces. Now a TV host and war veteran is running for defense minister Pete Hegsethwho has sworn that he wants to “cleanse” the defense forces of the wrong kind of generals.
Trump’s first director of national intelligence was a long-time Republican politician and former ambassador who had already been named defense secretary during the Bush era. For this season, Trump would like to lead the organization Tulsi Gabbard, which has been accused, for example, of spreading Kremlin propaganda.
Served as Minister of Education in the first term Betsy DeVoswho was loathed by liberal politicians but had a lot of experience in education policy. Now the candidate is the former head of a show wrestling organization Linda McMahonwho has experience managing a Trump-supporting financial organization and think tank, but not in education policy.
Appointments have caused consternation even within Trump’s own party. It is still not certain that the Senate would be ready to confirm the ministerial appointments despite the Republican majority.
Before confirmation, nominees usually have to pass security clearances by the federal police, the FBI, and a Senate vote.
The security clearances are supposed to verify, for example, whether the ministers are reliable enough to handle the most secret information of the United States. The idea behind hearings and votes in the Senate is to ensure the qualifications of the candidates for the position.
Now Trump seems to be planning to blow up these practices as well.
According to media reports, the incoming administration plans to ignore the FBI’s security clearances, at least for some ministerial candidates.
In addition, Trump has expressed his readiness to push his choice through, even if by force, during a session break, without votes. Then even the senators of their own party would no longer have any say in what the administration would be like.
In democratic states and civil rights organizations preparations have already begun for Trump’s second term.
One state attorney after another has said they are ready to fight the federal government through the courts to protect their own state’s residents. The organizations have collected money and hired lawyers for legal battles.
In Washington, experts and officials watch the show in a helpless state.
When lies, conspiracy theories and emotional “reasoning” are normalized, it is difficult to defend information.
Especially when Trump plans to take over the entire education system right up to the top. Universities are largely dependent on federal funding and loan programs administered by the Department of Education. The same Ministry of Education that Trump would like to abolish or at least cut to death.
Without universities, there is no researched information. Then only ideology remains.
Iida Tika’s season as ‘s correspondent ends at the turn of the year. Correspondent Ilmari Reunamäki continues in the United States.