Jonathan Swan: Trump Already Preparing to Purge DOJ, FBI, and Pentagon to Install Loyalists in 2025

Axios’s Jonathan Swan dropped a 7,000-word story on Friday detailing the “radical plan” former President Donald Trump and his allies are hatching for his possible return to power in 2025.

The plan, based on a controversial last-minute executive order from Trump in 2020 known as “Schedule F,” would aim to purge from the government what Trump has deemed the “deep state.”

“Trump signed an executive order, ‘Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service,’ in October 2020, which established a new employment category for federal employees,” writes Swan.

“Tens of thousands of civil servants who serve in roles deemed to have some influence over policy would be reassigned as ‘Schedule F’ employees. Upon reassignment, they would lose their employment protections,” Swan notes.

These new ‘Schedule F’ employees could then be fired without recourse under the order. Swan estimates that some 50,000 employees from some of the most crucial entities of the U.S. government from the Department of Justice to the FBI, the Pentagon, and the State Department would fall under this category.

Trump’s plan would then install loyalists to replace these career civil servants in key positions managing the country’s domestic and international intelligence, security, and other key governing responsibilities.

Swan notes that “Schedule F,” despite President Joe Biden immediately rescinding it, has not gone unnoticed or unchallenged by the Democratic Party, which currently holds both chambers of Congress – with slim majorities.

“Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who chairs the subcommittee that oversees the federal civil service, is among a small group of lawmakers who never stopped worrying about Schedule F,” wrote Swan, adding:

Connolly has been so alarmed that he attached an amendment to this year’s defense bill to prevent a future president from resurrecting Schedule F. The House passed Connolly’s amendment but Republicans hope to block it in the Senate.

Should Trump return to power, Swan notes that the “machine” is already in place to quickly implement this radical overhaul of the U.S. government.

Swan details how in his last term in office Trump was stopped by the likes of then CIA Director Gina Haspel and Attorney General Bill Barr from installing hardline loyalists like Kash Patel as the head of the FBI and in other top positions.

Barr recalled in his memoir that he told then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that Patel would only lead the FBI “over my dead body.”

“Never again would Trump acquiesce to such warnings,” Swan writes, adding that in the past year, “Patel has only grown closer to the former president since he left office.”

Swan takes a deep dive into how Trump’s inner circle has changed since leaving office, noting that those considered to have a moderating effect on Trump are no longer close to him. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner no longer play any role in “Trump’s political operation,” wrote Swan. He adds that “Hope Hicks, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and former campaign manager Bill Stepien” have also been replaced by the likes of MyPillow CEO and rabid election denier Mike Lindell and attorney Boris Epshteyn.

Swan’s reporting paints a bleak picture of how Trump would govern if he returns to power as his first priority would be to strip American government and democracy of the guardrails that kept his worst impulses in check while in power. No longer would Trump rely on Republican experts from former administration or career civil servants instead he would be like to head to the advice of advisers like Ginni Thomas, who during his first term would offer him lists of hiring suggestions.

Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, would reportedly hold meetings with Trump and gossip about who was loyal and who was disloyal in the federal government.

“Her recommendations to the White House included appointing the right-wing talk radio provocateur and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino for a Homeland Security or counterterrorism adviser role,” noted Swan of the types of hires to be expected if Trump retakes power in 2025.