Summary
Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has triggered sweeping purges and retributions against officials he deems disloyal.
He revoked Secret Service protection for former national security figures, fired Department of Justice lawyers investigating him, dismissed 30 inspectors general without notice, and reassigned career officials.
Federal employees face pressure to demonstrate loyalty or face removal.
An executive order mandates reviewing agencies involved in Trump-related investigations, fueling concerns of systemic retaliation.
Insiders describe the atmosphere as “shell-shocked” and worse than expected.
Consider that we’re hearing this third hand, so something like “holy fuck, I knew this was going to be a disaster but figured I would just hunker down and try to serve my country, but this is so completely fucked I don’t even know where to begin” might have gotten boiled down to “they didn’t think it was going to be this bad.”
The pessimist in me only would’ve been surprised if people were handcuffed at their desks and sent straight to Federal prison. It’s early though.