This Time They Mean It

Republicans make plans to drain the swamp; and a book I will be discussing on September 20 (free)

The Economist reports,

The Heritage Foundation, which prides itself on having done the preparatory work for Ronald Reagan’s “revolution”, has its own presidential transition project. This is led by Paul Dans, a lawyer who worked in the White House’s Office of Personnel Management during Mr Trump’s presidency…

As well as drafting policies for each department, Mr Dans and his colleagues are building a list of potential recruits to serve in the next Republican administration. He likes to describe the effort as a conservative LinkedIn. Fully staffing an administration requires about 4,000 political appointees, 1,200 of whom must be approved by the Senate. Heritage and its allied think-tanks are vetting the people to fill those jobs now.

Thanks to Niccolo Soldo for the pointer, including a link to a non-paywalled version of the article.

If Mr. Trump should win, expect the phrase “Schedule F” to gain wide currency.

The would-be Trump appointees plan to subdue the bureaucracy using Schedule F, shorthand for an executive order issued by Mr Trump in 2020 and rescinded by Joe Biden when he became president. It reflects a view that the federal bureaucracy, whatever its size, should not have any entrenched authority. …Since the 1940s, when Franklin Roosevelt was expanding the government, it has been hard to fire federal bureaucrats…

Schedule F would empower Mr. Trump’s appointees to remove perceived obstructionists at will.

In policy terms, the article says that we can expect Biden’s industrial policy minus the diversity mandates, and we can expect continued fiscal recklessness. Paul Ryan, who once made serious proposals for putting entitlement spending on a sustainable path, is part of the Republican establishment that is viewed with contempt by the Trump wing of the party. The Economist article notes that

Expensive industrial policy, lower taxes and only small reductions in benefits—in other words, less revenue and more spending—would not balance the books, much less trim government debts or refill the funds that pay for Medicare (subsidised health insurance for the disabled and the old) and Social Security (the state pension), which are due to run dry in the early 2030s.

The Revanchist Right

In my latest book review, I discuss Up From Conservatism, a volume edited by Arthur Milikh that collects essays that represent what I call “the revanchist right.” I will discuss this book on Zoom with Matt Continetti and Rachel Lu on September 20 at noon New York time. Free, but registration required: https://libertyfund-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8x-gm7gEQbKdNSWz3P-eUA

I write:

The authors articulate their paranoia about the progressive left, their frustration with the center-right, and their contempt for libertarians.

My review quotes from the book’s essays by Richard Hanania, Helen Andrews, David P. Goldman, and others. In the end, I write,

The contributors to this volume could have been content to make their case for using political power to address institutions in education, government agencies, and the broader culture that are captive to extreme progressive ideology. Instead, they also aim their fire at people with other conservative persuasions and other ethnic backgrounds.

They see themselves as surrounded by adversaries. And they are correct.

Politics in this country used to involve building and holding together coalitions. One can imagine Republicans trying to hold together a coalition that includes fiscal conservatives, working-class voters, recent immigrants striving for success, and at least some libertarians and establishment figures.

But the Revanchist Right wants only the working-class voters. It bets that it can win a narrow election and then roll over any opposition. But I am not sure that populists and swing voters will be satisfied with just a purge of the bureaucracy, factory subsidies, and a war on Woke.

Schedule F is likely to face court challenges which could delay it by years or emasculate it altogether. Mass demonstrations are likely to erupt over this or another issue. With government deficits left untamed, inflation may come roaring back. People living in Trump Country may resent being stuck with too little economic autonomy and too many drug overdoses, because the revanchists don’t have any plans to change things there. Swing voters in suburbia will not appreciate fights taking place in Washington over abortion law or K-12 curriculum.

The Revanchist Right, like Mr. Trump himself, is promiscuous with its animosities. It treats everyone else on the conservative/libertarian side with bitterness and contempt. It used to be considered prudent in politics to avoid making unnecessary enemies. The winds can always shift, and you don’t want to end up stranded and forlorn.

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Saturday Commentary and Review #136