A second Trump term would target the US civil service

Significance In the final days of the first Trump administration, an executive order reclassified bureaucrats who influence policymaking as political appointees. When Trump announced his plan to dismantle 'the deep state', his described his first step as reinstating this reclassification, known as Schedule F. Impacts Politicisation of the civil service risks a return to the corrupt 19th-century patronage system when federal jobs were partisan gifts. Putting federal agencies under direct presidential control would mean any proposed regulation would require White House review. History shows that politically appointing bureaucrats has not reliably provided greater loyalty or responsiveness to an incumbent president.