“You’re fired!” Since Wednesday, January 22, American civil servants working in programs promoting equality between minorities have been out of work. Donald Trump in fact ordered, shortly after his inauguration, the closure of the so-called “DEIA” (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility) offices, going against his political ideology. In the process, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a post on the social network [seraient] placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately.
Like them, a thousand civil servants hired by the previous administration are in the hot seat, the new President of the United States publicly announced, once again displaying his brutal style. These replacements between two mandates are common across the Atlantic and have a name: the spoil systemor “remains system”. But some observers fear that, this time, Donald Trump’s aggressiveness towards the public service, and his desire to favor his faithful, will destabilize the proper functioning of the State.
“Not aligned with our vision”
Donald Trump did not waste any time: Tuesday January 21, 24 hours after his inauguration, the head of state fired four senior government officials appointed by his predecessor and warned that more than “a thousand others” were at risk of being killed. be also dismissed, in a message posted on his social network Truth Social. “My Office of Presidential Personnel is actively identifying and removing more than a thousand appointees from the previous administration who are not aligned with our vision to make America great again,” he said. on the platform.
The Republican named the four removed officials: José Andres of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook of the Wilson Center for Scholars and Keisha Lance Bottoms of the Presidential Export Council. The text ends with the phrase “You’re fired!”, Donald Trump’s iconic expression when he hosted the hit TV show The Apprentice.
Admiral Linda Fagan, appointed by Joe Biden to head the US Coast Guard and the first woman to head one of the six branches of the army, was also fired. One of the reasons for her dismissal was that she had tried to implement policies promoting equality within the army, according to sources close to the matter.
Changes also under Biden
The practice of firing certain senior officials at the start of their mandate is not new. Often, these replacements concern high positions: Joe Biden had thus carried out a transfer window with cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, and heads of federal agencies. For example, he demanded the resignation of Trumpist Peter Robb, general advisor to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency responsible for enforcing labor rights.
But some warn against a return of system spoilera practice formalized almost two hundred years ago, by President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) – father of the Democratic Party, today controversial for its support for slavery and the colonization of indigenous lands.
“To the victors the spoils”
The latter was indeed suspicious of the “deep state”, and was quick to dismiss half of the country’s civil servants, to replace them with members of his party after his election. The term comes from the expression “to the victor belong the spoils”, attributed to an American senator, William L. Marcy, in 1832, to describe this system.
The problem with such a practice, which does not only target the executive, but also applies to ordinary civil servants, is that people are appointed on the basis of their political loyalty, and not their skills. “The result was [à l’époque] not only a totally incompetent administration, but also widespread corruption”, recall the American law professors Sidney Shapiro and Joseph P. Tomain in a column published on The Conversationcriticizing the temptation to return to the system of remains.
A controversial practice
Officially, America’s conflict of interest laws and the swearing-in of the president and members of Congress should be a guarantee of adherence to the defense of the Constitution, at the expense of personal or partisan interests. The vast majority of civil servants are also appointed on the basis of a competitive examination, and are protected against unfair dismissals, particularly political ones.
But observers warn against the desire of the Trump team to circumvent these rules to favor its political entourage, particularly by reclassifying civil servants in categories more vulnerable to dismissals, or by modifying laws governing the civil service through Congress . Many American government institutions are also preparing for major upheavals in the days and weeks to come, with Donald Trump having announced that he has tasked his “Department for Government Efficiency” with drastically reducing the number of civil servants.