by Tyler O’Neil
A surprising number of federal government employees admit they are preparing to act like the deep state in opposing the coming second Donald Trump’s administration.
The majority of Americans, even many of the elites, voted in favor Vice President Kamala Harrisare willing to support the Trump administration, according to an RMG Research survey commissioned by the Napolitan Institute. Yet 42 percent of federal government managers working in the Washington swamp intend to act against the administration.
In mid-December, RMG Research conducted three surveys to examine three different segments of the population. The polling firm focused on the so-called elite 1 percent, who have postgraduate degrees, earn more than $150,000 a year and live in densely populated areas; Main Street Americans who do not meet any of these three criteria and who make up 70 to 75 percent of the U.S. population; and federal government managers — federal employees who live in the National Capitol area near Washington, D.C. and earn at least $75,000 a year.
Main Street Americans tend to have less faith in government and want more freedom for Americans, while the elite 1% tend to have more faith in government and say Americans have too much freedom. Main Street Americans tend to look down on the idea of a deep state opposing a president elected by the people.
Favorable tailwinds for Trump, with one exception
The poll found that many Americans are willing to support the recent administration, even among elites and even among those who voted for Harris.
The survey asked: “As you look ahead to the next four years, will your political efforts focus primarily on supporting the Trump administration or on resisting the Trump administration?”
A majority of Main Street Americans (59 percent) said they would support the recent administration, while only 28 percent said they would oppose it. Even 1% of the elite more often declared support (48%) than opposition (39%) to the administration.
Even some of those who said so I voted for Harris in November they declared that they would support the recent administration. Twelve percent of Harris voters said they would work to provide at least some support to the recent administration.
On Election Day, 64 percent of the elite 1 percent voted for Harris and only 34 percent voted for Trump. However, among the elite 1 percent who voted for Harris, a quarter (26 percent) said they were working to support the recent administration.
However, federal government executives were evenly split, with only 44 percent saying they would support the administration and 42 percent saying they would oppose it.
Government workers joining the resistance
Not surprisingly, federal government managers appeared more preoccupied with resistance, identifying as Democrats.
While the extensive majority of government workers who identify as Republicans plan to support the administration (89 percent “somewhat” or “strongly support”), almost three-quarters of Democratic bureaucrats plan to resist (73 percent “somewhat resistant” or “strongly resistant”). More than half of GOP executives (52 percent) said they would “strongly support” the administration, while 40 percent of Democrats said they would “strongly oppose” it.
A quarter of all executives (26%), whether Democrats or Republicans, plan to “strongly support” the administration, while only a slightly smaller share (23%) say they will “strongly resist” it.
The survey also asked federal government managers what they would do if Trump gave them a lawful order that they consider bad policy. Only 17 percent of Democratic executives who voted for Harris would follow Trump’s orders. Three times as many (64 percent) said they would ignore the order and do what they thought was best. This means declaring that they plan to act like a deep state, opposing the president elected by the people.
However, voters did not look favorably on the idea of bureaucrats refusing to follow orders.
More than half (54 percent) of Main Street voters said a a bureaucrat who refuses to follow the president’s lawful order should be dismissed and even a majority of 1 percent elites (52%) agreed with this.
A majority of Republican Party managers (74 percent) believe the bureaucrat should be fired for refusing to follow the president’s executive order, while only 23 percent of Democratic Party managers agree.
Yawning Bay
When asked about the most essential policy issue of the moment, federal government managers had different priorities than Main Street Americans and voters as a whole. (The survey asked an open question, not a list.)
Main Street Americans were more likely to cite some version of the economy (40 percent) or immigration (18 percent) as their most essential issue, as were voters overall (39 percent chose the economy and 17 percent chose immigration). Fewer Main Street Americans mentioned some version of American politics (4 percent), abortion (6 percent) or Trump (4 percent).
Even the 1 percent elite seemed closer to Main Street Americans than to federal government managers. Elites cited the economy (26%), American politics (11%) and immigration (7%) as the most essential issues.
Although the economy also emerged as the most essential issue for bureaucrats, only 18 percent chose it. Another 11 percent chose immigration.
Many federal government executives chose issues that did not concern most other Americans, such as guns and crime (10 percent), climate change (6 percent), education (5 percent), equality (5 percent) and cybersecurity (5 percent).
While these are essential issues – and I’d like to see how many bureaucrats cited some version of gun control and how many pointed to rising crime rates – they reveal a mismatch in priorities between bureaucrats and the people for whom they write the policies.
RMG Research surveyed 1,000 registered voters between December 12 and 13; 1,000 1% elite voters between December 9 and 19, and 500 federal government managers between December 9 and December 23. The margin of error for the 1 percent elite is plus or minus 3.1 percent, and the margin of error for federal government managers is plus or minus 4.4 percent.
What does this mean?
This study confirms that bureaucrats in the administrative state plan to oppose Trump from within, whether by refusing to issue lawful orders or by engaging in anti-Trump political activity outside of work hours.
This deep state phenomenon weakened the first Trump administration, and the president announced that he would aggressively fight it in the recent one.
My upcoming bookWoketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government,” shows how major left-wing donors support a extensive network of woke activist groups that employ and advise the federal government. This extensive network of influence has maintained power in the Biden administration, but it will not end on January 20.
Congress can assist Trump is fighting this deep state phenomenon by passing laws preventing public sector unions in the federal government, limiting regulations, and reining in agencies that are insulated from Congress and the president, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
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Tyler O’Neil is the editor-in-chief of The Daily Signal and the author of two books:Making Money on Hate: Corruption at the Southern Poverty Law Center“And”Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government“
“The Streets of DC” photo by Ted Eytan CC2.0.
