The president needs the power to fire bureaucrats

During my time in government, I saw what political scientists have long documented: Many federal employees reject this philosophy. At the White House I received frequent reports about career staff undermining presidential policies. Career employees routinely delayed producing new rules or produced drafts that couldn’t be used. As a result, many major regulations—such as the Education Department’s Title IX due-process protections—had to be drafted primarily by political appointees.

Career employees also frequently withheld vital information from political appointees. Career lawyers at the Environmental Protection Agency, for example, failed to brief political appointees about major lawsuits. Political appointees had to read public filings to learn what cases the agency was litigating and what arguments were being made in those cases.

Career staff at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division often wouldn’t work on cases they opposed for ideological reasons. They refused to enforce protections that say nurses can’t be forced to assist in abortions. And they refused to sue Yale for racially discriminating against Asian-American applicants.