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[dalton99a]

1. Kick

7. The deep state of Trump lackeys

For a man whose every turn has been blocked by his own incompetence – if not his own bureaucracy – there are a remarkable number of well-placed Trumpistas doing their best to stymy the incoming Biden administration.

There’s the obscure administrator Emily Murphy, who leads the General Service Administration, and has the power to trigger government support for the transition. Murphy refuses to do so, and apparently feels really bad about this.

Not as bad as the Biden team, who can’t get access to federal officials or national security briefings. But still bad.

There’s the less obscure, but no less sincere, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo whose department has been hoarding foreign leader messages for Biden. These pesky foreigners still find a way to reach Biden, so the move is as pointless as it is petty. But nobody accuses Pompeo of being a big thinker.

And then there’s the treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin who has decided – against the wishes of the Federal Reserve – to end several emergency lending programs. Whatever Mnuchin’s motive, his sneaky move will stop his successor from supporting the economy early next year.

Because if you can’t stop the next president in the courts or the electoral college, you can surely overturn it by nobbling the next president in office.