Donald Trump is planning to gut the Civil Service Commission, allowing him to hire and fire civil employees for political reasons; and Chris Christie is his hatchet man. But if you were concerned about big money in politics and massive conflicts of interest and you voted for Bernie Sanders because of this, it would get a whole lot worse. This is because Donald Trump would allow people in business to work part-time in government as well.
Christie added that the Trump team wants to let businesspeople serve in government part time without having to give up their jobs in the private sector. Trump frequently says he is better equipped to be president because of his business experience.
OK, so if I were working for Exxon-Mobil (for example) and I wanted more favorable regulations for my company’s operation, I could go into government and act as a go-between. In other words, under Trump, Exxon-Mobil would be regulating Exxon-Mobil. Or if I were BP, and I wanted to get inside information on how the EPA plans to regulate oil production, I might have some of my people get a job at the EPA.
The US Civil Service Commission was set up in 1883, as a way of hiring people based on merit rather than political considerations. Before, anytime a new President took office, there were always people lining up at the White House in order to secure a government jobs thanks to favors owed by new Presidents. And for ordinary people, working in government was not a good career, because you would always be out of a job when a new party took power.
And yes, hatchet man Chris Christie would seek to fire people at will:
"One of the things I have suggested to Donald is that we have to immediately ask the Republican Congress to change the civil service laws. Because if they do, it will make it a lot easier to fire those people," Christie said.
He said firing civil servants was "cumbersome" and "time-consuming."
So, anytime NASA put out something stating that climate change is real and a danger to our quality of life, Donald Trump and his hatchet man Chris Christie could fire the person responsible. The result would be to undermine the public confidence that we have in our institutions, drive away career public servants, and turn Washington over to corporate lobbyists and political hacks.