When Eugene Vindman was running for his House seat last year, the Virginia Democrat warned about the severe threat that Donald Trump’s election would pose to the civil service, predicting the new president would attempt to politicize formerly non-partisan roles to advance his own agenda.
Three weeks into the president’s second term, Vindman’s warnings appear prescient. The president and his allies – including Elon Musk, head of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) – have moved at lightning speed to fire federal prosecutors who worked on criminal cases against Trump, force out longtime civil servants by launching a legally suspect buyout program, and even attempt to unilaterally shutter the foreign aid agency USAid.
