Unlikely as it seems, US government bureaucrats have been having a bit of a boomlet. For the last 23 years, the Partnership for Public Service has run an annual award, known as the Sammies, for civil servants who, in their words, 性视界传媒渉ave helped our government innovate, save lives and deliver critical services to the public.性视界传媒 The awards have mostly flown far under the radar, but not this year; recently, they were featured in a New Yorker article by Casey Cep, who calls them, tongue firmly in cheek, 性视界传媒渢he Oscars for the deep state.性视界传媒
At roughly the same time, The Washington Post has launched an extraordinary series of articles focusing on individual bureaucrats and agencies. It性视界传媒檚 overseen by best-selling writer Michael Lewis, whose 2018 book, The Fifth Risk, highlighted the crucial and terribly underappreciated work done by federal civil servants. Lewis contributed the first article in the Post series, about Chris Mark, who works in the Pittsburgh office of the Mine Safety and Health Administration and, more than anyone, is responsible for a steep decline in coal miners性视界传媒 deaths from roof collapses. The series is also looking at the VA, NASA性视界传媒檚 Jet Propulsion Lab, the IRS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and more.
I don性视界传媒檛 think there性视界传媒檚 a huge mystery about why this is happening now. At the moment, the civil service also figures in a heated presidential campaign in which one of the candidates性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄Donald Trump性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄stands foursquare behind, essentially, demolishing it by removing current protections for civil servants so that political appointees and people committed to his goals can replace them. At a Texas rally last year, he told his audience, 性视界传媒淓ither the Deep State destroys America or we destroy the Deep State.性视界传媒
As it happens, those awards I mentioned above, the Sammies性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄officially, they性视界传媒檙e the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄were handed out on September 11. So, let性视界传媒檚 take a look at how members of the Deep State are 性视界传媒渄estroying性视界传媒 America.
The employees of the year, for instance, are Labor Department employees who discovered and investigated child labor violations at meatpacking plants in eight states, where 102 children ages 13 to 17 were working illegally. An award went to Amira Boland, who used to work at the Office of Management and Budget, who over several years found ways to ease the Medicare-enrollment process, created a program for online passport renewal that has just gone into effect, and simplified disaster-assistance applications. Another award went to two USDA employees whose work 性视界传媒渞evolutionized bee disease diagnosis and treatment,性视界传媒 making it possible to develop medicines aimed at improving bee health and preventing colony collapse性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄vital to American farmers across a broad swath of the country.
Over the course of my life, I性视界传媒檝e spent a lot of time talking to federal bureaucrats. And yes, there are duds, as there are in pretty much any private-sector business. But the vast性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄vast性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄majority of civil servants I性视界传媒檝e encountered over the years are dedicated to making America better and stronger, using every tool at their disposal (and sometimes inventing them when they don性视界传媒檛 exist) to improve life for ordinary Americans, regardless of where they live, what they look like, or what they believe.
They don性视界传媒檛 talk about this much性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄and certainly not to the people in the press who could help Americans understand better what they actually do. 性视界传媒淧eople who work in the government know you can get into a lot of trouble talking to a reporter,性视界传媒 the longtime journalist Timothy Noah wrote recently. 性视界传媒淐ivil servants are supposed to be invisible.性视界传媒
That性视界传媒檚 too bad. Because as Noah also points out, 性视界传媒淕overnment is a tool that can be used for good or ill性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄depending to a great degree, yes, on who is president but depending also on the invisible people who work well below, most of them (in my experience) smarter and more public-spirited than you性视界传媒檒l find most other places.性视界传媒 As the Sammies make clear, many of the people who serve us have the knowledge and skill to do extraordinary work. They need our support性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄and the backing of the people we elect性视界传媒嬄性视界传媒性视界传媒嬄to do it.
Lee Hamilton is a Senior Advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a Distinguished Scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a Professor of Practice at the IU O性视界传媒橬eill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.
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