Donald Trump desires to reintroduce a system of spoils within the federal government by hiring political loyalists no matter their competence

In case of re-election for a second term Donald Trump He supports a plan that might give him the facility to fireside as much as 50,000 civil servants and replace them with members of his political party who’re loyal to him. If he ultimately finds these latest employees to be disloyal, he claims that under the plan he could fire them as well.

The United States has tried such a plan before.

As we write in our book “How the government built America”, newly elected President Andrew JacksonAfter taking office in 1828, he dismissed about half of the country's civil servants and replaced them with loyal members of his political party.

The result was not only a totally incompetent government, but additionally widespread corruption.

Swear loyalty

Jackson's policies, which rewarded political loyalists and punished enemies, represented a dramatic departure from the vision of the Founding Fathers, who created an independent civil service whose members were literally obligated to uphold the laws of the land.

In the passage of his very first lawOn June 1, 1789, Congress required newly appointed federal officials to take an oath of office, uphold the laws of the land, and conscientiously perform their duties.

Congress also passed Legislation on conflicts of interest to forestall employees from making decisions based on personal financial considerations.

While oaths are less essential today, they were considered essential personal obligations within the 18th and nineteenth centuries. The U.S. Constitution, for instance, incorporates an oath of office for the Presidentand it’s provided that members of Congress and other federal officials “are bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution.”

When President George Washington – and the subsequent five U.S. presidents – hired a brand new worker, Reputation was essential. Each of the presidents paid attention to how neighbors perceived the candidate and whether he had been elected to local office, a sign that the person – and so they were all men – was a reliable and honest employee.

This was not the goal of Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, and his system; he wanted loyalists in government offices.

The loot system

While early presidents were concerned in regards to the competence and honesty of officials, Jackson quickly put these concerns aside.

Instead of hiring those that desired to work in the general public interest and for the great of the nation, Jackson employed members of his political party who promised to march in lockstep with him and his policies. This system became often known as the “Spoils System.”

How Trump cardJackson also had a version of the “deep state” that he rejected. He claimed the appointment process was aristocratic and blocked the appointment of the common people he represented. He also insisted that have and competence were unnecessary.

Jackson was completely mistaken about a few of his political appointments.

One of his worst was Samuel Swartwouta long-time friend of the Army and political sycophant. Jackson appointed him to 2 consecutive terms as Customs Commissioner of New York, where he served from 1829 to 1837.

The job was considered an actual flagship and the highest-paying within the federal government on the time. It involved collecting taxes and costs on imported goods arriving on the country's busiest port.

But a congressional investigation showed that Swartwout had stolen just over $1.2 million during his time in office, which is reminiscent of about $40 million in today's currency.

Swartwout had fled to London but returned to the United States after being assured that no criminal charges could be brought against him.

Jackson also learned that his power to influence federal agencies through high-level appointments was limited. This was the case with the US Postal Service.

As a slave owner, Jackson was alarmed by the mailing of anti-slavery pamphlets in 1835 by the American Anti-Slavery SocietyFearing that the leaflets might result in a black rebellion, Jackson instructed his Postmaster General, Amos Kendall, himself a slave owner, to resolve the issue by restricting mailings and asking Congress to ban the U.S. Postal Service from sending all abolitionist materials.

Congress refused, citing Freedom of speech and expansion of presidential powers because the fundamental reasons.

Long after Jackson left the White House, Congress debated between 1864 and 1883 about making “performance” a central requirement for hiring latest employees, but nothing happened until an offended job applicant murdered President Chester Garfield.

Congress then passed the Pendleton Act of 1883the the Performance Appointment System still in use today. It also effectively ended a system that allowed whichever party won the White House to reward its supporters with tens of 1000’s of jobs.

A limited exception

Currently, most almost 3 million federal employees are appointed through merit-based recruitment procedures based on competitive examinations. They can’t be dismissed unless a limited variety of reasonsresembling poor performance or misconduct.

However, the law exempts roughly 4,000 federal employees whose appointment requires the recommendation and consent of the Senate and who’ve been designated by the President have a “confidential, policy-determining, policy-forming or policy-advocating character”.

The idea behind it’s to provide a brand new president the chance to influence his policies by hiring high-ranking federal officials.

The plan, supported by Trump, would expand the powers of the president, who under the present exemption can hire and fire tens of 1000’s of civil servants without regard to performance.

In short, he intends to reintroduce the spoils system.

This will not be an empty threat.

Towards the top of his term, then-President Trump said signed an implementing regulation Introducing a brand new job classification inside the federal government civil service called Schedule F for “employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-forming or policy-representative positions.”

Under this rule, employees would lose virtually all of their civil service privileges and might be fired without cause. It is unclear what impact Trump's order had on the federal government, because it was issued two weeks before the 2020 election and was only in effect for just a few months.

Shortly after taking office Trump's order reversed.

A thankless task

When appointments to key federal positions are based on merit slightly than political loyalty, we imagine Americans will face a diminished level of presidency competence—as Andrew Jackson learned during his time in office.

While this will likely not matter to those that view the federal government as unimportant to the country – or worse, as an enemy of the country – our book “How Government Built America” tells a really different story in regards to the 1000’s of federal employees who provide all the pieces from health care to protection from natural disasters.

Not every civil servant is an excellent worker, and the identical applies to all employees within the private sector.

But there’s ample evidence that the federal government works because there are various people behind the scenes in Washington and across the country who’re serving the American people – and keeping their oath of office.