House Democrats say they have proof State Dept. staff was pushed out over disloyalty to Trump

[Julian Englis]

Source: Washington Post

Two top House Democrats said Thursday that they have proof the Trump administration engaged in an intentional effort to rid the State Department of career officials they suspected of being “disloyal” to President Trump, citing documents a whistleblower gave to the panel.

The ranking Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Government Reform committees sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, writing that they received documents “indicating that high-level officials at the White House and State Department worked with a network of conservative activists to conduct a ‘cleaning’ of employees they believed were not sufficiently ‘supportive’ of President Trump’s agenda.”

In the letter, they asked for additional documents and communications about staffing decisions and for interviews with a number of senior White House and State Department officials appointed by Trump.

The list of officials they want to speak with includes the department’s chief and deputy chief of staff, director and deputy director of policy planning, and White House adviser and liaison. The committee also wants to interview the president’s deputy assistant for presidential personnel, Sean Doocey, and deputy White House counsel Makan Delrahim.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-democrats-say-they-have-proof-state-dept-staff-was-pushed-out-over-disloyalty-to-trump/2018/03/15/16f8fe1a-2884-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html

[James48]

1. This is devastating

All federal employees work as hard as they can to serve the American People, regardless of political persuasion.

The Pendleton Act, Hatch Act , along with strong ethics rules, have guided the non-partisan professional civil service for almost a hundred years.

And Trump and his conservative masters are intentionally destroying people’s careers and their lives!

Just devastating!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. 1890s

The goal is complete take-over and evisceration. The money grubbers behind the GOP (which now stands for Government Of Putin) want the same thing that Putin does -- a return to the 1890s when robber barons ruled. (This was the time when J.P. Morgan had to loan gold to the U.S. government to avoid economic collapse).

[Honeycombe8]

2. Of course they did. But they can do that, can't they?

Haven't other Presidents done that? I'm asking, since I don't know. But I thought maybe they would, to ensure negative documents don't get leaked or whatever.

[Julian Englis]

3. No, not if the positions are civil service. n/t

[James48]

4. No.

No other President has ever done anything like this. Past presidents have worked within the federal rules- employees generally are NOT political appointees and don’t serve “at the pleasure of the President”. Most are Civil Service or Foreign Service employees that are supposed to be outside of the partisan political sphere.

This is cruel, and damaging to American government.

[Honeycombe8]

7. I see. Wow. Like a loyalty oath to a dictator being required, instead of a staffer doing his job.

This guy is ruining the country and people's lives.

[alarimer]

13. I remember Bush protecting appointees by converting them to civil service

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111703537.html

But I don't recall any purges of the "disloyal." He did fire some US Attorneys, but I'm not sure if that was unprecedented or not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy

Republican governors have certainly fucked with state civil service rules. I remember this happening under McCrory and now under Hogan in MD. Or even if those actions were legal, they certainly stank.

[D_Master81]

5. Remember when "Travelgate" was a scandal?

[Hamlette]

10. or when Obama wore a tan suit?

That still gets my goat.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. This is worse than McCarthyism.

Very russian, tho.

[The Conductor]

9. It's Happened Before...

In the old days, this was called a person oath of loyalty to the fuehrer.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Call it a Stalinesque Purge, will ya?

Because that's what it was. Trump has no understanding of career civil servants. The half-life of his employees is approximately 7 months.

PURGE! By any other name, a purge!

[jeffreyi]

12. Illegal.

Kick, important people see this. Banana republic putsch stuff.