Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump and his allies are preparing for an aggressive expansion of his powers if he takes back the White House.
That includes more power to crack down on immigration and reorganize the Justice Department to punish opponents.
Trump mocked fears about his authoritarian tendencies during a Fox News town hall Tuesday, saying he would only be a dictator on “day one” so he could close the border and start drilling.
“After this, I’m not a dictator, okay?” Trump told host Sean Hannity to applause from the Iowa crowd.
This heated language is not new, but he and a group of Trump insiders are working behind the scenes on plans to increase his power so he can carry out an unprecedented restructuring of the U.S. government.
Breaking down the bureaucracy
When they last visited the White House, say former Trump officials like Russ Vought, who served as Trump’s White House budget director, career staffers often blocked or slowed even the smallest efforts aimed at bringing about political change.
“I can’t tell you how many times I would be asked the question, ‘Well, that’s not allowed,'” recalls Vought, who is now president of the Center for Renewing America think tank.
He then described a typical exchange between himself and a career employee:
Vought: “‘OK, why not? Is this a legal barrier?”
Staff member: “It’s a legal barrier. »
Vought: “Have you read the status?
Staff member: “No, I haven’t read the status. »
Vought: ‘I’ve read the statute and there’s nothing illegal about it.'”
Vought is now helping lead a team that is developing plans that would restrict the independence of some federal agencies and end government protections for tens of thousands of federal employees — which Trump calls the deep state — so those employees could be replaced by partisan loyalists.
A key part of that effort is reinstating an executive order known as Annex F, which would reclassify a large portion of these federal personnel as at-will employees.
And that raises concerns about authoritarianism.
It’s not that federal service doesn’t need reforms, says Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.
But she says Trump wants to create a class of federal workers who will do whatever the president wants — and if they don’t, they can be easily fired.
“It’s just a dangerous sign,” she said. “It really suggests that a president wants to increase his authority and his power. And that should make everyone nervous.”
Expand executive power
Much of the work happens behind the scenes, but it involves some high-level Trump executives working together and on parallel roads.
Paul Dans, a former Trump administration official, is director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, a conservative think tank with dozens of partners who have joined efforts to build this government-in-waiting.
Brooke Rollins, Trump’s former domestic policy chief, runs the America First Policy Institute, which is working on a similar effort, called Pathway to 2025.
They share the belief that too many federal workers working in executive branch agencies, which they call the administrative state or deep state, have become a “fourth branch of government” and have become an obstacle to conservative change.
“We are a clarion call for conservatives,” Dans said. “We want to demystify Washington. We want to open it up and let the rest of America in.”
The federal workforce is made up of tens of thousands of apolitical career civil servants who remain on the job regardless of who is president.
Trump says the ranks are filled with too many liberals.
There aren’t enough conservatives in government, leading to groupthink in some agencies, says Kevin Kosar, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
He likes the idea of training more conservatives, but he says current plans are unsustainable and could be undone by a subsequent Democratic administration.
What’s worse, he said, is that it would only worsen the political whiplash already plaguing Washington.
“I mean, Obama issues an executive order on immigration. Trump issues one that changes it the other way. Biden issues one that goes the other way,” Kosar says. “This is political instability.”
Since learning of these efforts, the Biden White House has proposed a new rule that would strengthen protections for federal workers.
But Trump supporters say that won’t stop their momentum.
In says now is the time for conservative warriors to step up their efforts.
“It’s your calling,” he said. “This is your time in life. We’re talking to you. You can’t stand here on the sidelines and gossip about it anymore.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about these efforts. But Project 2025 is not just for Trump. It is available to all conservative candidates.
Still, Dans says Trump is the best embodiment of their movement.
“Well, we are independent of the candidates. We are there to serve any standard bearer,” he said.
“But we are not agnostic of reality,” he added.
