As God is my witness, I knew nothing about this until this very morning:
Former President Donald Trump is weighing a go-it-alone approach to presidential transition planning, which could dramatically slow his takeover of the federal government if he wins in November.
The Trump transition team has yet to sign two agreements with the federal government to receive transition funding and planning assistance and to share information — a break with modern precedent. Instead, transition co-chairs Linda McMahon, who served as small business administrator in the Trump administration, and investor and GOP mega-donor Howard Lutnick are plowing ahead with their own processes for vetting potential political appointees and preparing policy plans.
The decision not to take federal assistance allows them to raise unlimited funds without disclosing their donors, while avoiding oversight from federal bureaucrats, whom Trump and his advisers deeply distrust. But if Trump wins the election and continues to drag his feet on signing the agreement with the White House, it will limit the information he and his team can access to understand current federal operations and challenges.
So the “federal government” – meaning who? I’d surely like to know – offers to provide “transition funding and planning assistance” to the incoming president? What do you suppose the aim of such a program might be? Not the for-popular-consumption aim; the actual, never-to-be-broached-in-public aim. Could it be anything other than assuring the futures of those who populate and direct the Deep State?
If my surmise is correct, Trump would be right to decline such “assistance,” even were it to cost him and his inner circle temporary access to certain information. All that information will be completely accessible to him by law after his inauguration. Why, then, should he permit persons with a strong personal interest in the perpetuation of “things as they are” to have visibility into his plans for his administration, much less influence over them?
We know the Deep State is deeply dug in. (“Like an Alabama tick,” to borrow a characterization from a great onscreen philosopher who “ain’t got time to bleed.”) We also know that they fear a second Trump term. Therefore it behooves Trump to steer clear of their “assistance,” lest he or his closest advisors allow the bureaucratic worm into their deliberations. Nothing good could come of it.
Turn not to your enemies for counsel.
2 comments
Best to keep that B@st@rds in the dark.
Don’t want to give them a heads-up on anything. Better to plunk people into the positions as heads of agencies/departments, with background info on the former admin staff drawn from private sources.
ALL FBI, CIA, and DOJ staff should be assumed to be actively working against the Trump administration. Offer security from firing for those lower level employees providing actionable information/proof of malfeasance by their bosses.
And, from the moment of inauguration, block all access to any government computer – Lock Them Out (ask Elon to recommend techs to handle that.
ALL employees who transferred from positions in which they could be fired, to exempt ones, should be singled out for DEEP investigation, suspension (with NO access to any government resources), and prosecution. Assume they have done dirty deeds for which they want protection.
That’s what screwed him the first time. He trusted the system too much and the system kept stabbing him in the back.