Here come The Disrupters.
Posted/updated on: November 21, 2024 at 3:53 pmPresident-elect Trump is moving a warp speed to fill out his administration.
Top Democrats, the legacy media and most of the permanent Washington bureaucracy are aghast. The reaction of Sidney Blumenthal, a senior advisor to Bill Clinton, is fairly typical. He said in a Wednesday op-ed in The Guardian:
Trumpās cabinet picks are agents of his contempt, rage and vengeance.ā
Well, Sid, thatās a bit much donāt you think? But Iāll give you this. Trumpās picks this go-around constitute a clear departure. Missing are the likes of Jim Baker, Bill Barr, Dick Cheney, Jeff Sessions and Josh Bolten ā all central casting Washington establishment types ā that served in either or both of the last two Republican administrations.
This crowd is different. Iām going to call them āThe Disrupters.ā Trump is trying to create a quasi-superhero force to turn Washington on its head. And I have news for you, Sidney. The implicit promise in the Trump campaign of such disruption is exactly why he won the election.
The American people have had it with Washington-as-usual.
Is Americaās education of its youth better than it was when the Department of Education was formed in 1979? (Donāt answer. Itās a rhetorical question.)
The motto of the Department of Health & Human Services is, āImproving the health, safety and well-being of America.ā Are we healthier, safer and more well than when the department was formed in 1980? Another question that answers itself.
Starting under Obama the Department of Justice has transformed itself into something resembling the STASI of East Germany. Do you feel confident that we still have āequal justice under the law?ā
We can pretty much go department by department and ask similar questions and get similar answers about each.
The Congressional Budget Office reported recently that at least 1,264 federal agencies and bureaus have expired authorizations yet still received a total of $516 billion in funding in fiscal year 2024.
There are 2.2 million civilian federal employees, which makes the executive branch of the United States government the largest civilian employer in the country and among the top three in the world. (Wal-Mart and Amazon are bigger only if you count their overseas employees.) Most of those federal employees were sent home during COVID and most of them have stayed home, despite being ordered by President Biden to return to the office. As a result, according to the Government Accountability Office, 17 of the 24 largest federal agencies use on average only 25 percent of the office space that you and I are paying for.
I have news for Sid Blumethal and his fellow travelers. Cleaning this up (and thereās so much more of it) is what the American people hired Donald Trump to do.
So, Iām onboard with The Disrputers. Their arrival is long overdue. The swamp creatures are going to resist The Disupters with everything they have. Victory is by no means assured.
But Trumpās cabinet lineup this time sends a clear signal that the battle to drain the swamp will be fully joined.