People Outside D.C. Like Plans to Wreck the Bureaucracy

Joseph Lobue writes for the Federalist about reaction to President-elect Trump’s plans for the federal bureaucracy.

In a recent “PBS NewsHour” panel discussion, Washington Post Associate Editor Jonathan Capehart criticized President-elect Donald Trump for selecting cabinet nominees designed to “wreck Washington.” Underlying Capehart’s critique is his assumption that Washington in its present form doesn’t need “wrecking.” The majority of Americans disagree with that assumption.

According to election exit polls from CNN, 73 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. Among this cohort were 43 percent of respondents who were “dissatisfied” with the state of the nation and a staggering 30 percent who were “angry” about the situation. A voter analysis conducted for Fox News showed that 82 percent of the electorate wanted at least “substantial change,” with a full one-quarter wanting “total upheaval.” 

In retrospect, no polls were needed to see the landslide that was coming. It was evident as soon as the incumbent vice president attempted to portray herself as the change candidate. The incumbent is never a change candidate. So the voters sent Trump back to the White House to do exactly what Capehart is suggesting — to give Washington a good “wrecking.”

Americans have a great capacity to deal with adversity, so long as they believe we are all in this thing together. Americans no longer believe that. Rather, they sense that the American bureaucracy is in business for itself, and for good reason.

The place to start is the economic divergence between D.C. and the rest of the United States. We have touched on this unhealthy relationship previously. There are more than 3,000 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. Yet, half of the top ten, and three of the top five, wealthiest U.S. counties in terms of median household income are suburban counties of Washington, D.C. Fifty years ago, just five of the fifty richest U.S. counties were suburbs or exurbs of Washington D.C.  That number has more than tripled to 17.