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Some experts predict federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency could be hobbled by an exodus of experienced administrators during a second Trump administration. | Photo courtesy of A.F.G.E./Wikimedia Commons
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By Suzanne Potter, Producer
California good governance experts are warning the expansion of presidential power under a second Trump administration could cast aside expertise and the public good to further purely political aims.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated multiple candidates known more for their personal support for him than for relevant expertise.
Bill Resh, associate professor of public policy at the University of Southern California, said Trump appears to be following the blueprint set by Project 2025.
“Project 2025 puts into place principles such as loyalty, first and foremost, to the President as a criterion for placement into these agencies, and often with the intention of undermining those missions.”
Supporters of President-elect Trump say voters have given him a mandate to govern as he sees fit. So far, he has nominated people strongly aligned with the oil industry to run the U.S. Interior Department and be Energy Secretary. He has nominated a climate change skeptic to run the Environmental Protection Agency, a television host with no executive experience as Defense Secretary, an election denier for Attorney General and a vaccine skeptic to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
Resh noted Trump has already suggested using recess appointments to avoid what could be bruising confirmation hearings for some of his nominees.
“His stars are aligned to consolidate executive power and bring what used to be either quasi- or fully independent agencies, that were not subject to political whims, to bring those agencies to heel toward his policy preferences,” Resh contended.
This year, the U.S. Supreme Court found presidents cannot be prosecuted for most actions in office. And come January, both houses of Congress will be controlled by allies of President-elect Trump.
Disclosure: The University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences and USC Price School of Public Policy contribute to Public News Service’s fund for reporting on Arts and Culture, Cultural Resources, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, visit https://www.publicnewsservice.org/dn1.php.
