The idea has always been demolishing the state, not saving money. I hope that, at least, all the data and systems that were deleted were not irrecoverably destroyed. It'll take a lot to rebuild when this government ends.
The IT systems are the least of the problems. Who in their right mind would aspire or begin a career in government/public work with this being a possibility. This is a generational scar that you will fundamentally alter the way civil servants interact with their organizations.
All civil servants I know do it for the same reason military enlist (in other countries - the US has different incentives): out of a wish to serve their country.
An understanding that you won’t be kicked in the balls for going into the civil service does rather help with the realization of the desire to serve. That understanding’s gone now. We already screwed around with them by doing things like periodically delaying paychecks but forcing them to work anyway, but not… this.
After this government passes, I’m sure new legal guarantees will be applied to civil service to prevent politically motivated purges and hiring sprees.
I hope those also extend to police forces, which are overwhelmingly far-right.
A lot of protections are already in place and have been ignored. Tens of days notice to Congress and for-cause required to dismiss? Nope, blanket firing with no notice. 60 days‘ notice required for layoffs? Ignored, we’ll just lie that it was “for performance” even though we didn’t look at performance and there’s clear evidence we didn’t.
The failure of the rule of law is going to be hard to law our way out of.
> The failure of the rule of law is going to be hard to law our way out of.
The fact civil servants carried out these orders is itself a good indication the protections are insufficient. Preventing a civil servant from carrying out their function is a criminal offense in some countries and they have authority to arrest the person preventing their exercise on the spot.
Unfortunately, a lot of the layoffs were for servants in probation that don't enjoy the same protections.
In Brazil civil servants have to go through admission tests (which are VERY hard to pass) and, since they have been validated by the admission test, they skip probation and enjoy full legal protections from day 1. This, for instance, has allowed civil servants to refuse direct presidential orders (in one case, a customs officer refused to hand over a foreign authority gift for improper paperwork - indicating potential corruption) and to investigate and report misconduct at the minister-level (in one case, COVID-19 vaccine procurement) without fear of repercussions. This is one of the many reasons they need protection against tyrants.
The US system has decided that the sitting president is not just personally immune from any legal action that could be imagined to be done in an official capacity, but also holds the power to hold anybody else immune as well. What legal actions could you even impose on such a person?
I also don't see what indications you have that the US is moving in a sensible direction? It seems unlikely to me that the US will learn anything from this.
