Cleveland – If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday.
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Christie, who is governor of New Jersey and leads Trump’s White House transition team, said the campaign was drawing up a list of federal government employees to fire if Trump defeats Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
“As you know from his other career, Donald likes to fire people,” Christie told a closed-door meeting with dozens of donors at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, according to an audio recording obtained by Reuters and two participants in the meeting.
Christie was referring to Trump’s starring role in the long-running television show “The Apprentice,” where his catch-phrase was “You’re fired!”
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s transition advisers fear is that Obama may convert these appointees to civil servants, who have more job security than officials who have been politically appointed. This would allow officials to keep their jobs in a new, possibly Republican, administration, Christie said.
“It’s called burrowing,” Christie said. “You take them from the political appointee side into the civil service side, in order to try to set up … roadblocks for your successor, kind of like when all the Clinton people took all the Ws off the keyboard when George Bush was coming into the White House.”
Christie was referring to pranks committed during the presidential transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush in 2001. During that period, some White House staffers removed the W key on computer keyboards and left derogatory signs and stickers in offices, according to a report by the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress.
“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.
Christie also told the gathering that changing the leadership of the Environmental Protection Agency, long a target of Republicans concerned about over regulation, would be a top priority for Trump should he win in November.
Trump has previously vowed to eliminated the EPA and roll back some of America’s most ambitious environmental policies, actions that he says would revive the U.S. oil and coal industries and bolster national security.
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.
Although Christie was repeatedly asked during the meeting, he declined to name any potential Cabinet picks. He said Trump was not ready to do that yet.
If he wins its gonna be yom tov!(I x know id purim or tishu bav)
He should fire everyone of Obama appointees. Hope there will be no Zacher of this evil anti american leftist socialist Arab loving guy!
Can’t wait for donald to take a broom and sweep out all of obama’s appointees that were hired without qualifications ,only that obama wanted to help friends.
Bold move: changing Civil Service law to allow people to be fired for political affiliation. The potential for mischief on that is HUGE and the instability it will bring to government agencies cannot be overstated.
Threatening a purge of political opponents…here it starts…and most of you think it’s nonsense to see in Trump and Christie dangerous totalitarian tendencies.
Typical to any Democrat administration, the people brought to the highest positions of authority and power are hired based on their political connection, not true qualification for the job. This was true for Clinton and Obama. These fools need to be purged from positions of authority. Politics is an unfortunate reality, bit there has never been as partisan a leader as Obama. His party stuff was always placed before the best interests of America. We cannot allow anyone with such ideas to occupy public office.
The guy is aiming to be a straight-up dictator. He proposes to do here what Erdogan is now doing in Turkey.
All administrations fill positions with their appointees. No problem. Why does he need to change laws?
Obama violates his oath to preserve and defend the constitution by going around Congress to enact his own laws. He freely interprets laws on the books in any manner he chooses.
Trump wants to follow the Constitution by asking Congress to make laws as prescribed by the Constitution.
Obama is hyper politicizing our government. I guess the host of Orwellian speaking liberals have a problem with Trump opposing the politicization of our government.