The 'deep state' of loyalists Trump is leaving behind for Biden [View all]

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

Donald Trump spent four years railing against a “deep state” of career federal workers he claimed was undermining his administration from the inside.

When Joe Biden takes office next week, he may actually have one.

A higher-than-usual number of Trump administration political appointees — some with highly partisan backgrounds — are currently "burrowing" into career positions throughout the federal government, moving from appointed positions into powerful career civil service roles, which come with job protections that will make it difficult for Biden to fire them.

While this happens to some degree in every presidential transition, and some political appointees make for perfectly capable public servants, Biden aides, lawmakers, labor groups and watchdog organizations are sounding the alarm — warning that in addition to standard burrowing, the Trump administration is leaning on a recent executive order to rush through dozens if not hundreds of these so-called “conversions.” The fear is that, once entrenched in these posts, the Trump bureaucrats could work from the inside to stymie Biden's agenda, much of which depends on agency action.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/trump-loyalists-burrowing-biden-460238