A growing number of federal employees are resisting President Trump's attempts to dismantle what he calls the 'deep state,' according to reports.
Donald Trump entered the presidential election vowing to dismantle what he calls the ' deep state .' Now, the deep state is (politely) fighting back. Multiple federal government employees, all but one speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their jobs, have told Newsweek that they are living in fear but will ignore any instructions from the White House they deem unlawful—and they are determined not to sacrifice their jobs simply because of the pressure.
They said morale had cratered since Trump was inaugurated on January 20, ushering in a wave of policies such as a bid to end remote work and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. One described the atmosphere as 'demoralizing and chaotic.' Nor is Trump their only target. Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO who leads the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was also singled out for driving what the employees see as a threatening and counterproductive agenda. It is not known how many employees have joined this informal movement. But many have turned to the 278,000-strong r/fednews Reddit page, described as a safe space for federal employees, to express anger, dismay and sadness over the administration's policies. They shun traditional symbols of resistance. Instead, they unite around a more unlikely flag, emblazoned with an image of a star, a stapler and the motto 'Come and take it'—a play on right-wing campaigns against gun control. Another widely shared slogan proclaims: 'Hold the line. Do not resign.' One popular post repeated that slogan and noted that 'we made an oath to protect the constitution from threats, both foreign and domestic.' Trump and his supporters say the deep state consists of progressive-leaning federal government employees who continue to wield substantial power regardless of who controls the White House and Congress. They say that spending is too high and federal agencies need to be more responsive to the public's needs to restore trust in government. Among such supporters is Senator Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana. 'The American people overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in part because of his promise to root out government waste and bring common sense back to the White House,' Banks told NBC News. 'With a $36 trillion national debt, I welcome his administration working to ensure every tax dollar is spent responsibly on the agenda he promised.' Newsweek contacted the White House press office for comment via email. Donald Trump Vs the Deep State During Trump's first term in office, it was widely reported that some federal employees were seeking to undermine his agenda by slow walking or outright ignoring White House dictates. A report by the conservative America First Policy Institute published last month concluded that a 'significant minority' of federal employees actively sought to undermine Trump's agenda during this time, using tactics such as failing to inform political appointees about key developments and producing 'legally unusable' policy drafts. Following Trump's inauguration on January 20, the White House wrote to government agencies instructing them to 'take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements,' while many federal workers were offered eight months' pay if they agreed to resign from their jobs by February 6. Trump also said he would purge over 1,000 Biden appointees from the federal government 'who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.' Musk has indicated he would like to cut federal spending by 'at least $2 trillion.' Such pronouncements have not been well received by the federal employees who spoke to Newsweek. One, who said they'd worked for the Interior Department and its bureaus for nearly 30 years, described morale as 'the worst I've ever seen in the federal government.' 'I can say that 98 percent of all the federal employees are hardworking people who really do care about their work and their service to the public. The 'lazy' government workers are few and far between,' they said. 'I can also add that the level of terror and paranoia is incredibly extreme. For example, many of my colleagues have spent most of the week scrubbing websites for ANY mention of DEI programs. Even the word 'equity' is being removed from all internal and external digital platforms (this is an order from the highest levels of my department). These workers are so scared that even one word that doesn't align with the Trump administration will result in firing.' Another federal worker, employed by the Department of Health & Human Services in the Midwest, echoed such sentiments. 'The general mood is one of anxiety, distrust, and siege,' they said. 'We've always felt undervalued, sometimes thankless, but now, I'd say it's shifted to being targeted. The Elon Fork in the Road email seems to be a quasi legal coercion or warning for an empty, unbanked promise... Remote work has increased efficiency. It's saved the government millions of dollars in electricity, bandwidth usage, etc.'
DONALD TRUMP DEEP STATE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ELON MUSK GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY REMOTE WORK DEI DIVERSITY EQUITY INCLUSION
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