'Their days are numbered': Federal bureaucrats are panicking over Trump win — especially at DOJ and FBI

Employees at the Biden-Harris Department of Justice and their fellow travelers at the FBI are apparently "shell-shocked" and updating their resumes following President-elect Donald Trump's landslide electoral victory.

Federal bureaucrats' apparent fears of a thorough housecleaning are justified, as Trump has made no secret of his plan to "shatter the Deep State and restore government that is controlled by the People."

Background

In March 2023, Trump announced that on day one, he would reissue his 2020 executive order establishing the Schedule F employment category for federal employees, making it easier to remove insubordinate and poorly performing bureaucrats from an estimated pool of 50,000 eligible candidates.

"I will wield that power aggressively," Trump vowed.

President Joe Biden revoked Trump's Schedule F in January 2021 and announced a rule earlier this year aimed at further shielding federal bureaucrats from accountability and from being ousted under a framework resembling Schedule F.

'They're getting the hell out of dodge.'

Reversing this rule might take months and involve legal challenges. Nevertheless, Trump appears committed to ensuring that America's democratically elected president will once again "have appropriate management oversight regarding this select cadre of professionals."

Trump also vowed in his 10-point plan to "clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus."

"The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left's political enemies, which they're doing now at a level that nobody can believe even possible," said Trump.

Since detailing his cleanup program last year, Trump has brought on Elon Musk to lead a federal efficiency initiative, which might reinforce the cleanup of deadwood at the Justice Department and its well-armed offshoot.

Reaping the whirlwind

Blaze News investigative journalist Steve Baker said that bureaucrats at the DOJ and the FBI are right to panic, not only because a "reshuffling of the deck is normal" but because Trump is poised to make good on his pledge to personify and deliver " retribution" for those Americans wronged by what has become an increasingly politicized justice system.

"We know that this panic is happening at the assistant U.S. attorney level and at the U.S. attorney level. These guys are already planning their exits," said Baker. "They know that their days are numbered. They are looking for their golden parachutes into the big, high-power law firms. They're getting the hell out of dodge."

FBI employees are expecting a similar shake-up and pre-emptive exodus.

Several anonymous bureau sources recently told the Washington Times that the top brass at the FBI were "stunned" and "shell-shocked" by Kamala Harris' humiliating electoral defeat.

The insiders, convinced that the president-elect will "smash the place to pieces when he gets in," suggested that no one at the supervisory special agent pay grade (GS-14) or higher is safe from losing their jobs, especially not Director Christopher Wray.

"It's a countdown for Wray because [people here] don't think he will stay to get fired after what Trump did to Comey," said one FBI source. "Trump will say, 'Yeah, fire his ass. Don't let him take the plane home.'"

Trump appointed Wray in 2017. While the director's term is not set to expire for another three years, the president-elect could put him out to pasture.

'Everyone's going to have a real problem when they're running for the door.'

FBI employees are apparently also wary about Musk's efficiency commission.

One source told the Times, "When [Musk] tries to do efficiency at headquarters, the place is going to have five people."

"Try to find a person that's actually working," continued the source. "That may be the biggest problem there — that there's no efficiency. So that's actually the bigger threat. If you're going to try to make the government efficient, you would start with the FBI, because if you do politics all the time, you're probably bloated."

Another source suggested to the Times that some FBI employees who have grown tired of the Jan. 6 witch hunt are amused over the prospect that Trump will liberally issue pardons, nullifying their efforts.

While the promise of pardons has apparently amused some bureaucrats, it hasn't slowed down Democratic elements of the judiciary.

Baker, whose pretrial hearing regarding his Jan. 6 misdemeanor charges is scheduled for Tuesday, told Blaze News that despite the understanding that Trump will ultimately pardon nonviolent Jan. 6 protesters, D.C. courts are continuing to waste time and taxpayer funds pursuing his and similar cases.

"They are going forward with the process no matter what, when they should be hitting the pause button," said Baker.

While the president-elect currently lacks authority, Baker suggested that "he should at least issue a public statement and say, 'I'm telling you, DOJ, I'm telling you, FBI, I'm telling you, judges of the D.C. District Court: You're wasting your time. You're wasting the people's time. And you're wasting the people's money going through this process because I'm going to put a stop to this on the day of or day following my inauguration.' He could at least send a signal."

Baker suggested that such a statement may not get through to those blinded by hatred and committed to crushing Jan. 6 protesters, but it might resonate with those persons in the District of Columbia still equipped with common sense.

In the meantime, it appears that FBI employees are getting ready for a change of employment.

"You know the fit test? How they let the standards slack on the fit test?" one FBI source told the Times, referencing the bureau's physical fitness requirements. "Everyone's going to have a real problem when they're running for the door."

When pressed for comment about the nature of the personnel changes the inbound administration has planned for the DOJ and FBI, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Blaze News, "President-elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second administration soon. Those decisions will be announced when they are made."

Regarding Musk's role in the cleanup of these agencies, Leavitt noted, "Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation business leader, and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency. His specific role will be announced when that decision is formalized."

Editor's note: The article has been updated with comment from the Trump transition team.

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