Washington, D.C., in 1874

Fill the Swamp, the Case for Staffing the Federal Government

Ruben Garza
Jul 23, 2017 · 6 min read

During the 2016 Presidential Campaign, then Republican candidate (and now President) Donald Trump’s campaign carried slogans that caught national attention. Phrases such as “Make America Great Again” emphasized Trump’s willingness to return America to a glory that him and his supporters had felt was lost in the Obama administration, and “Lock Her Up” was repeatedly chanted by his supporters for their desire to see Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton sent to prison for her mishandling of her email scandal. Another important phrase, which will be the focus of this article, repeated during the campaign was “Drain the Swamp” or the removal of corruption in Washington D.C and the firing of people in Washington affiliated with previous “failed” policies. Puns aside, what is the swamp and how does one actually drain it?

Draining the swamp, according to Fox News personality and prominent Trump supporter, Eric Bolling is “to reduce the size of government that is slowly sinking Washington into a quagmire of inaction, over-regulation and excessive spending.” While the rally cry worked on the campaign trail, one is left to wonder what a swamp-draining initiative would look like in the White House.

One way that President Trump has tried to uphold his promise is, willingly or unknowingly, to reduce the size and staff of the federal government. The Washington Post has managed to keep track of all of Trump’s federal appointees and track their confirmation status. According to their report as of July 17, 2017, only 49 of Trump’s appointees have been confirmed to their positions and two of those positions are career servants, two positions are held by a single person (John J. Sullivan currently serves as both the Deputy Secretary of State and the Deputy Secretary for management and resources in the State Department). Even the President’s communications team had Sean Spicer serving as both Press Secretary and Director of Communications after the former, Mike Dubke, resigned. To some, the shrinking size of the federal government is what the U.S. has needed for a long time, but there are also consequences that come with doubling up and relying on so few people. Unlike other Presidents (going back to H.W. Bush), the Washington Post article has pointed out that Trump has 367 positions with no nominee, 12 awaiting confirmation, and 138 nominated. For reference, by this point in their presidencies Presidents Obama, W. Bush, Clinton, and H.W. Bush have had 203, 185, 206, and 148 positions confirmed respectively.

James Mattis being sworn in as Secretary of Defense

An analogy to explain this dilemma is, simply put, baking a cake. Imagine getting the basic ingredients to make a cake all spread out in front of you, eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and baking powder. Now of course you’ll need an oven, but there are other pieces such as a mixing spoon, egg beater, and maybe even a piping bag if you want an aesthetically pleasing cake. Other items like measuring cups and various kitchen essentials can be used to make the right cake with the right ingredients with the right methods, and I have yet to mention the multitude of ingredients needed to make one of many variations of cakes. While baking a cake seems simple at first thought, the actual process of making it requires more than the basics. Each step in the recipe needs near perfect execution and every ingredient must be accounted for, or else the cake can be displeasing to the eye, taste awful, be undercooked, overcooked, or any other type of deformity to befall the dessert. Unless someone with experience in baking is making the cake or supervising a novice, the cake will not touch a plate.

Now imagine President Trump as an amateur baker with a short list of ingredients and an ill-equipped kitchen promising to make the best cake to those who believed in his skills. Chances are, there are going to be major setbacks along the way.

In the realm of foreign policy, the lack of staff has severely hurt the Trump administration. During the transition period, former Obama appointees in the State Department had difficulties relaying helpful notes and memos to aid the incoming Trump State Department since there were few incoming people. The former Obama State Department officials noted that “they had only intermittent contact with Trump representatives, and that those people often changed” due to constant shakeups in the Trump cabinet. Even in the National Security Council, a body staffed by people not needing Senate confirmation, Trump has had difficulties in hiring. According to a report by the New York Times (from Jan. 18, 2017), the NSC was still missing a “cadre of senior directors, who run departments that develop policy on Asia, Western Europe, Russia, nonproliferation and other areas,” possibly leading to a bevy of communication and strategic errors by the United States. While Trump has allegedly selected some of those officials, the current makeup of the NSC does not show any new faces since the removal of Steve Bannon.

Tillerson, left, and Jens Stoltenberg, right, at a NATO summit in Brussels.

The pains of a lack of staff is also visible in Germany, where as of July 20, 2017, President Trump has yet to nominate an ambassador. Tensions with the German government are already high as Trump has frequently criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for not committing to NATO spending. In a recent interview with POLITICO, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges noted that commanding around 67,000 troops stationed across Europe (with the U.S. Army Europe headquarters located in Wiesbaden, Germany) and having no ambassador is quite difficult. Hodges noted that one of his priorities was to show “importance in the U.S. of the military answering to an elected, civilian political leadership” to allies across the globe. Without an ambassador to work consistently with our German partners to promote strong U.S.-German relations, our presence looks more threatening than calming. Having an ambassador also helps in forging new relations between two countries, as opposed to ambassadors waiting to hear orders from the President. There is also no ambassador to NATO, a key strategic alliance force for the United States, and while President Trump has named his choice in Kay Bailey Hutchinson, current tensions with NATO members and the U.S. might have been resolved quicker with an ambassador

The situation in the executive branch is even more confusing, as numerous department secretaries have their offices, but no staff to carry out policy. With President Trump continuing to slowly nominate key positions to important departments like Education, Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, department heads have spoken out against this portion of “Drain the Swamp.” The head of the department is key in crafting regulatory policy, but they need their subordinates to actually implement the policy and possibly change the wording of regulations to avoid conflicts with Congress and the courts. “‘If your brain isn’t functioning, your arms and legs aren’t going to function,’” says David J. Rothkopf, the chief executive editor of the FP Group. The current “brains” of various departments have even attempted to expedite the hiring process out of frustration with the current administration’s hiring practices, such as “Defense Secretary James Mattis and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos [going around the White House] to hire their own staff.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent clashes with White House staff over hiring are representative with this issue as Secretary Tillerson is having to work the State Department with little help from the White House. The situation can only get worse by forcing these exhausted secretaries to manage an entire executive department by themselves and occasionally help from the President. Without key figures in place, the Education Secretary cannot implement reforms on student loan debt, the Transportation Secretary cannot impose regulations on public transportation safety, and the Environmental Protection Agency cannot properly reprimand those in violation of current regulations.

“Drain the Swamp” became a popular battle cry for those wanting to see President Trump and his policies change the United States, but what people need to realize is that the federal government cannot run on such few people and needs to be properly staffed to carry out important actions. “Fill the Swamp” may be more of a realistic chant that reflects the desire for government to function properly. Swamps aren’t all that horrid anyway, just look at the Everglades!

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