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Coach
I've been in the fed space either as a fed or as a contractor for nearly 30 years. Over that timeframe, I can't even count the number of times I've seen "apolitical" policy staff slowroll or outright contravene the directives of their political appointees. This is not solely a Democrat/Republican issue, I've seen it happen countless times across party lines.
I am neither a Trumpist nor a Republican, but given what I've seen and the deleterious effect it's had on agency missions, I support the *concept* of policy staff being at-will employees.
Political appointees, whether they are Democrat or Republican, should have full faith that their policy staff are going to do what they tell them. Full stop, end of story.
My main worry is just the scope of it. I agree with you largely, for core agency policy, it makes sense. What worries me is how it also seems to scoop up a lot of random, policy-adjacent assignments, like lawyers and administrative policy staff (like acquisition policy or Budget policy) who don't really have a political role, they just provide input that the policy teams consider.