The Biden administration appears to be working overtime within federal agencies to put labor agreements in place before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
The agreements are designed to complicate Trump’s stated goal of civil service reform or, as he puts it, purging the deep state. The contract terms can restrict federal agencies’ discretion over employee management.
The latest example of the Biden administration implementing this tactic is at the Social Security Administration (SSA). It has already performed or is working toward similar changes at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Bloomberg reported on the Biden administration’s efforts:
A Biden administration appointee has agreed to lock in hybrid work protections for tens of thousands of Social Security staff, part of a slew of organized labor efforts that complicate President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce.
The American Federation of Government Employees [AFGE], a union representing 42,000 Social Security Administration workers, reached an agreement with the agency last week that will protect telework until 2029 in an updated contract, according to a message to its members viewed by Bloomberg.
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AFGE members at the Environmental Protection Agency in May ratified a contract with management that includes new “scientific integrity” safeguards meant to protect their ability to discuss their work with the media and report alleged scientific misconduct without suffering from retaliation. Attorneys at the Department of Justice have been organizing with another group, the National Treasury Employees Union, trying to secure union recognition before Biden leaves office.
The Biden administration has taken some heat for its plan of action to impede Trump’s purge of the administrative state. Senator-elect Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said he would work with Trump to unwind the agreements on day one.
“Federal employees are on notice: in the real world, when you don’t show up to work, you get fired. Senate Republicans will start unwinding these ridiculous deals on Day 1,” he said.
Investor Bill Ackman also sounded off: “Biden is attempting to make permanent the Deep State before he leaves office by burdening the government with untenable contracts so that @realDonaldTrump and @DOGE cannot succeed. This needs to stop now.”
The term “administrative state” specifically describes the phenomenon of unaccountable and unelected administrative agencies, including the national security apparatus, exercising power to create and enforce their own rules. The administrative state uses its rule-making ability to essentially usurp the separation of powers between the three branches of government by creating a so-called fourth branch of government not formed by the Constitution.
Many unelected bureaucrats within the administrative state also use their position to inflict their own agenda on citizens. For instance, before the “laptop from hell” story broke in 2020, 51 intel officials signed a letter that insinuated Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation. The letter was peddled by Politico under the title “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” The 51 signatories, however, seemingly knew the Politico story was false at the time because the FBI had the laptop that Hunter had abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop. Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden cited the story during a 2020 presidential debate with then-President Trump to discredit the laptop’s contents. The story was reportedly planted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken for Biden to use during the event.
Some bureaucrats in the administrative state appear worried that Trump will replace them with employees who will perform the tasks assigned to them by Trump administration officials. They frame this angst as a concern over Trump politicizing their jobs.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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