Outstanding Questions on Personnel in the Transition from Trump to Biden

William Yeatman andChristian TownsendOn January 20th, management of the administrative state will change hands from a Republican to a Democratic president. With this transition in mind, below are three open questions about government personnel.Will EPA Work Only for Progressive Presidents?During President Obama ’s lame duck, the Environmental Protection Agency went into regulatory overdrive. Of particular note, the agency rushed to complete a crucial regulation on fuel efficiency —almost 16 months before the deadline—in an attempt to “cement [Obama ’s] climate change legacy. ” It was a herculean task, one that was made possible by the tireless efforts of civil servants at the EPA.Now the shoe is on the other foot. President Trump is in his lame duck. But this time around, civil servants at the agency are acting differently. The New York Timesheadline says it all: “EPA’s Final Deregulatory Rush Runs Into Open Staff Resistance.”Such “open resistance” isn’t an isolated incident. Early in the Trump administration, EPA employees took the unprecedented action of lobbying against the president ’s pick to head the agency. And throughout Trump ’s presidency, EPA employees have trumpeted their “resistance”on social media.Perhaps this “open resistance” is temporary. Maybe it’s all attributable to Trump, and only Trump. But perhaps the implications are broader. Maybe the EPA’s staff has taken sides, and we can expect this s...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs