White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney decried the “deep state” in a Wednesday speech to Oxford University’s debating society.
According to Andrew Muir, a journalist and student in attendance, Mulvaney argued that the idea of a “deep state” working to undermine the elected government is “absolutely 100% true.” Mulvaney says, “It’s our job to go out and fix it.” The White House acting chief of staff also argued that civil servants must follow administration orders or quit.
What should we make of all this?
Mulvaney’s aggressive language suggests the Trump administration is preparing to weaponize its “deep state” concerns in the run-up to the November elections. The intent here will be to mobilize conservative voters in common fury over a supposed conspiracy against Trump’s presidency — a conspiracy that only they can put down by casting their votes for President Trump on Election Day.
But there are risks here.
Mulvaney’s war cry for a “fix it” purge of unidentified public servants raises concerns of undue efforts to politicize or neuter the civil service. It’s certainly true that many government officials are opposed to Trump and have, at least at times, sought to undermine him. That should stop.
But many others, across the military, intelligence services, and other institutions of government, have done their duty — including Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. It’s simply not the case that Trump has the ability to demand absolute allegiance from those who serve in the federal government. Their first and final allegiance is to the Constitution. This is especially pertinent in light of Trump’s interference with the Justice Department.
According to Muir, Mulvaney’s address carried other interesting tidbits.
Mulvaney warned that Britain’s decision to push ahead with the installation of Chinese Huawei 5G technology would lead to a “direct and dramatic impact for us to share information with the U.K.” The Trump administration is concerned Huawei will use its network access to steal information and degrade the effectiveness of the U.S.-British intelligence alliance.
Mulvaney also derided the idea of taxing individuals over their environmental activities. Muir reports that Mulvaney said, “Asking people to change their lifestyle, including paying more taxes, is not something we’re interested in doing.”
The key takeaway is Mulvaney’s “deep state” comments. We have a clear sign that the Trump administration is going to make this a top issue in the presidential election.
