Staff Reports
The prospect of President-elect Donald Trump starting his new administration with a literal house cleaning of the federal government has conservatives buzzing with excitement. According to former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, the president-elect may wield the power to fire whomever he pleases right from day one, a surprising twist thanks to Joe Biden’s decision to fire Spicer himself in 2021. While Biden focused on booting out Trump loyalists from military academy boards, it appears he inadvertently set the stage for Trump’s potential shake-up.
Cast your mind back to the good old days of 2021, when Spicer was terminated along with a few other Trump allies—a move Biden executed with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop. Allegedly, their three-year terms held no sway over Biden’s decision, showing just how casual this administration is about constitutional appointments. Biden may have thought he was getting one over on Trump, but he actually opened the door for his successor to sweep through and clear out some Biden-era appointments.
If anyone thought the judiciary would catch up with the escalating political drama, they’d be mistaken. Spicer and Russ Vought took their grievances to court, only to be handed a swift defeat. The judge laid out a crucial principle: if you have the authority to appoint, then you have the authority to remove. Absent any specific laws preventing it, that means anyone who was put in place by a previous administration is fair game. The Biden administration, after strutting around like they owned the place, has now been publicly acknowledged in court for their absolute authority to fire anyone, which could be the ultimate self-own.
This newfound clarity could provide Trump with a golden opportunity on day one, giving him the green light to purge the federal landscape of those who were appointed during Biden’s tenure. With the courts affirming this power, the irony of Biden’s decision to fire Spicer could come full circle. Imagine the chaos as Trump boldly strides into office with a proverbial ax in hand, leaving those entrenched bureaucrats nervously checking their email for termination notices.
"Wow, what a shocker! 🥱 Sean Spicer dropping legal knowledge like it’s hot—who knew losing could set the stage for a *huge* precedent? 🤔 Guess on Day One, Trump can just sweep the swamp clean like a janitor at a D.C. broom factory! 🧹🔥 Can’t wait to s… https://t.co/omhjz5yTp3
— NahBabyNah #Trump (@NahBabyNah) December 21, 2024
The idea of clearing out government employees, especially those who cozy up at home during their “work from home” privilege, has already been floated within Trump’s nascent Department of Government Efficiency, dubbed DOGE. In a delightfully ironic twist, Trump has stated that if federal employees won’t come back to the office, they’re at risk of dismissal. One might have thought job security in the federal realm was a given; however, those overpaid bureaucrats might soon learn life can change in the blink of an eye, especially when based on a principle of accountability to the American taxpayer.
As for those crying through their red tape about job losses, it seems there is much apprehension among Beltway insiders. An anonymous Department of Energy employee reportedly expressed a “general feeling of dread,” but the rest of America is nodding along in approval. For taxpayers looking to see government efficiency rather than mothballed bureaucratic inertia, this is indeed a diamond hidden in a lump of coal, all thanks to the actions of a Biden administration that thought they could play make-believe with employees who lacked political allegiance. Perhaps as Christmas comes around, the permanent government can take a little scrooge-like cue from Spicer’s experience and rethink their approach—because this time, accountability may be on the agenda.
