Two Cheers for Federal Employees

It is happening, I’m told.

Federal employees at “the Agencies” within government are deciding that they are not down with The Program. Since the day it arrived in office, the Biden Administration has been pushing the abandonment of Constitutional principles (e.g., packing the Supreme Court, suppressing disfavored political speech). But federal employees are making clear they are not comfortable with that.

The first news came in May. Rumor reached me then of a cultural civil war within the agencies.

By June I heard it was 50-50.

Recently I have heard from multiple people with contacts within the federal system that 60-65% of people there are making clear that they remember the Constitution. Another 30% (I am told) are acting like go-along people: they are there for a good career and are going to go along with whoever is in charge. And last, there are about 5%-10% real diehards, who do not care about the Constitution at all, and relish an authoritarian take-over.

The consistency of these reports is heart-warming. As is the report that it is happening for precisely the reason it should happen: principle. Whatever their private beliefs, these federal employees remember the document to which they swore an oath, and remember enough of its virtues that they do not want to see it abandoned. They understand what lies beyond that.

These times are going to let people show their mettle, courage, and honor in many ways.

This story was first published on Deep Capture. Deep Capture features original investigative reporting on the all-too-cozy relationship Wall Street has with regulators, media, government and the intellectual establishment.