Change is never easy, and it is especially tough when that change has to right the wrongs committed by opportunists, ideologues, and spendthrifts from times past. Such are the realities of the pains many in the federal government are realizing in the reformative measures being executed by the Trump administration.
This corrective pain will also be felt across our nation to some degree and by everyone, although it won’t be nearly as painful as the far-Left alarmists of the woke ilk are prognosticating.
To be frank, and if we are honest with ourselves, the federal government has turned into a bloated enterprise that—until now—refuses to operate within the constraints of the constitutional framework that created it, with its rank-and-file employees so sheltered from the realities of the world they have come to think they have a “right” to their positions. They do not.
Regardless of what the ideologues and opportunists of the public-sector union leadership and the encroaching judges of the judiciary contend, every federal employee existing under the Executive Branch—that’s every employee of every agency, department, administration, and commission—serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States in one form or another.
So, what does that mean?
To "serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States" means that a person holds their position—usually a high-level government job—only as long as the President wants them to. It’s a phrase rooted in the US Constitution and applies to certain officials, like cabinet members, ambassadors, or other appointees in the Executive Branch. These people don’t have fixed terms or job security in the usual sense; the President can fire them at any time, for any reason—or no reason at all—without needing approval from Congress or anyone else.
It’s tied to the President’s authority to run the Executive Branch as they see fit. The thinking is that the President, as the only leader elected by the whole of the nation, gets to pick a team that aligns with his agenda. So, if a cabinet secretary or an agency head isn’t cutting it in the President’s eyes, they’re out—no legal protections or formal process required, just the President’s say-so.
On the flip side, it also means these officials are directly accountable to the President, not to, say, the public or another branch of government. It’s a loyalty gig. You’re there because the President trusts you to carry out his vision, and when that trust is gone, so are you.
For rank-and-file federal employees—your everyday government workers like clerks, analysts, or technicians—the phrase "serve at the pleasure of the President" doesn’t apply in the same way it does to high-level appointees, but it still applies. These folks are part of the civil service, a system designed to keep the government running smoothly regardless of who’s in the White House. They’re supposed to be hired based on merit, not because of politics or ideology, and that affords them some protections that make their jobs far less shaky than, say, a cabinet secretary’s.
Civil service employees—think of the bulk of people at agencies like the IRS, EPA, or Social Security Administration—fall under laws like the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which abolished the US Civil Service Commission and replaced it with three entities: the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority, establishing a process for discipline and termination. This gives federal employees (civil servants) a degree of job security: they can’t just be fired on a whim by the President or anyone else.
Although the hyperbole of a federal employee being unfireable, unless a murder has been committed, has lost its comedic value, there is a process (as convoluted by union and judicial interference as it is) to terminating a federal employee that involves documentation, providing reasons—like poor performance, misconduct, or failure to comply with the directives of superiors. That process also allows the employee(s) in question the ability to appeal through systems like the Merit Systems Protection Board. The idea is to shield them from political pressure so they can do their jobs without worrying about ticking off the boss upstairs.
That said, the President’s influence isn’t zero. Rank-and-file workers answer to supervisors, who answer to higher-ups, who ultimately answer to political appointees serving at the President’s pleasure. Therefore, the President’s agenda significantly impacts the direction and spirit of a federal employee’s work—say, through policy changes, agency or department re-branding and re-purposing, or budget cuts.
Ultimately, everyone—from the cabinet secretaries to the department and agency heads, to upper- and mid-level management personnel, to the rank-and-file employees in the Executive Branch—serves at the President's pleasure in one way or another, or, at least, they’re supposed to.
But since the Clinton years, when his administration stuffed the Deep State bureaucracy with mid-level political loyalist “sleeper cells” meant to progress obstructively upward through the bureaucratic chain to guard the then soft neo-Marxist revolution that had been manifesting since the early 1960s, the Deep State bureaucracy has executed small measures to insulate itself from accountability and culpability.
Meanwhile, the ranks of the federal bureaucracy—an integral element of the Deep State—have exploded to approximately 3 million people as of November 2024. Keep in mind that this excludes state, county, and local government employees. When we add that number, the total comes to approximately 23.7 million, or about one in every 14 or 15 Americans or 14% of the US workforce.
These numbers warrant an examination of the need for so many government employees at every level, but especially in the federal government since many federal departments and agencies are redundant to state-level departments and agencies.
This brings me to my larger point and yes, it involves the termination of federal employees and quite a bit more.
Some of the CIA’s top officials are worried that disgruntled former employees may be plotting to commit treason by leaking classified information to foreign adversaries such as China or Russia, seeking revenge for their firings.
CNN reported:
“...on the CIA’s 7th floor—home to top leadership—some officers are also quietly discussing how mass firings and the buyouts already offered to staff risk creating a group of disgruntled former employees who might be motivated to take what they know to a foreign intelligence service.”
Treason is a crime against the American people and the only crime to be specifically spelled out in the US Constitution.
Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution states, in part:
“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort…”
Providing classified information to the enemy—for any reason—constitutes treason.
The intelligence community institutions wield significant and often, especially in recent years, nefarious influence both domestically and abroad. They have actively worked against President Trump for nearly a decade. From constructing and promoting the now-debunked Russiagate narrative to intelligence agencies working together to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story, they have continuously sought to undermine him and his agenda at every opportunity. The FBI’s involvement in January 6 only reinforces the extent of their political entanglements.
These acts constitute sedition.
For federal employees, sedition-like behavior is most directly addressed under laws like the federal seditious conspiracy statute. This law makes it a crime for two or more people—including government employees—to conspire to overthrow the US government, oppose its authority by force, or interfere with the execution of its laws. If a federal employee were involved in such activities—say, plotting to disrupt government operations through violence or sabotage or the usurpation of directives—they could face prosecution, with penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
The insubordination that has become commonplace in the federal bureaucracy, especially at the Department of Justice and the intelligence communities—which, in the latter’s case, constitutes treason, must be addressed and addressed with an uncompromising (read: ruthless) hand.
The idea that retaliation by disgruntled ex-employees could include divulging national security secrets to our enemies is—by definition—treason. Any current, former, or newly terminated federal employee who provides aid (classified information) or comfort to the enemy. Should be charged with treason, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and penalized to the harshest letter of the law.
Any federal employee—or complicit organization—who conspires to sedition should be charged with sedition, prosecuted aggressively, and penalized to the full extent of the penalties allowed.
There can be no caveats or mitigating circumstances. These transgressions against the American people constitute crimes of the highest order and, therefore, require the harshest penalties.
The time for talking about what should be done and what will be done is over. It’s time to execute. A few convicted traitors hanging in the public square sends a potent message.
Then, when we return, our segment on America’s Third Watch, broadcast nationally from our flagship station WGUL AM930 & FM93.7 in Tampa, Florida.
No, Zelenskyy Is Not An Equal
Before I go, I wanted to spotlight the grotesque disrespect that was displayed both toward President Trump and the American people—the American taxpayers—by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Friday’s Oval Office meeting.
Zelenskyy is not Trump’s equal. He is a head of state, yes—for now, but he is not an equal. He is not the leader of a superpower. He is a man representing a country at war who needs the financing and big stick abilities of the United States on the world stage.
So, what does he do? He comes, dressed like a poor-man’s Castro wannabe, to the Oval Office and speaks to the President of the United States like President Trump is some sort of obligated servant.
Zelensky interrupted, talked over, and most egregiously, attempted to talk down to President Trump. He tried to dictate the terms for which he would accept aid—including the ability of the United States to affect an end to the conflict.
I am including the full video of the meeting here at UndergroundUSA.com so you can see just how disrespectful this pissant was:
As an aside, JD Vance rolled his bones to cement his bona fides in taking control and ending the spectacle, at least in front of the media.
Nevertheless, the level of ungrateful arrogance is both incredible and unacceptable. To wit, I agree with the statement the President issued shortly afterward on X:
“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It's amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
As I shared with a good friend of mine who used to be in the employ of the EU Commission years back when he asked my thoughts on Zelenskyy getting pretty much asked to leave the Oval Office:
“Zelensky's disrespectful attitude (maybe it's a symptom of being able to walk on Biden the way he did) toward Trump in his assumption that he is an equal isn't playing well over here in the US. His lack of humility is overt and that doesn't play well with Trump or his backers. Many Americans see that as being ungrateful after the taxpayers—not the government, the taxpayers—gifted him $500 billion.
“So, it means [Zelenskyy] thought he had some sort of leverage over here that didn't exist. If he is wise (and at this point that appears not to be the case) he will return with a conciliatory tone, even if it has to be in private. Otherwise, his world just got extremely difficult and Europe will have to flip the entirety of the bill for his begging.”
The damage that the “walk-all-over-us” Biden administration—and before them the Obama administration—did to the stature of the United States is evident in Zelenskyy’s belief that he could walk into the Oval Office and piss all over the place.
Zelenskyy’s blatant disrespect towards President Trump and his arrogance in the Oval Office lost the good will of the majority of the American people, and that is a tragedy for the people of Ukraine, who have traditionally enjoyed the sympathies and support of the American people.
But, like it or not, Zelenskyy represents the Ukrainian people and Zelenskyy did a great disservice to them, as well as to the American people.
Was this all theater for Vladimir Putin’s non-benefit? It could be, but it’s not likely. Regardless, a large majority of the American people feel that Zelenskyy disrespected both President Trump and the American people, and that cannot stand.
In the end, a more imbecilic political move has seldom been witnessed in world history. The Ukrainian people would be wise to make amends to their most valued ally, and sending Zelenskyy a pink slip would be a great first-step overture.
Zelenskyy’s punk-antics need to be the end of his political career.
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