Donald Trump vs. the Deep State, 7/4
Jeffrey Tucker on an attempted executive order
Trump came to office promising to drain the swamp but it was very late in his term before he figured out the means at his disposal to do just that. His final effort took place merely two weeks before the election that was decided in favor of his opponent Biden, who quickly reversed this action just two days following the deadline of an ordered review that would have reclassified, and thus gained control over, a sizable portion of the administrative state.
The order to which Tucker refers would have reclassified many government workers so that the President has the power to fire them. I am not sure that this is necessary or sufficient to turn around the bureaucracy.
It may not be necessary, because most government workers will not resist authority. They keep doing what they’ve always done not to be defiant but mostly because no one is telling them to do otherwise. The President’s problem is that he cannot pay attention to all of the little nooks and crannies of the executive branch. A strong COO, who could appoint strong heads of departments, would have a better chance.
The power to fire is not worth much unless you have highly capable executives in place. I don’t believe that Donald Trump has the ability to attract and retain the sort of executives who you would need to make a difference in Washington. And I don’t think that any President has the time and focus to accomplish it without a COO.
Schedule F would absolutely have been a very big deal. (Fair disclosure: I cannot claim to be disinterested in the result). It is about a lot more than easy termination, though that's part of the set of absolute minimum authorities necessary to steer the ship. Future Democrat Presidents will absolutely try to revive the effort once they do the work needed to plow the road and get the necessary support and the Narrative-Parrots to endlessly echo the "... and why that's a good thing!" Slatepitch. It's precisely because the bureaucracy recognized the real significance of the move and immediately mobilized against it (and, to be honest, because it was associated with Trump which through unthinking brainstem reflex makes things which even Democrat Presidents want to do too toxic and radioactive for their base) that the Biden administration - which otherwise would love Schedule F and which suffers from pathological dysfunction every day because it lacks it - had no choice but to reverse it.
There is not going to be a reform of this system. There are only two outcomes possible in my opinion- either it collapses under its own weight and the government it runs collapses in bankruptcy and dissolution, or it becomes completely despotic in nature and name.