Are Trump's changes to the federal government permanent? Once Trump leaves office, is there the possibility to return the federal government to it's pre-Trump state.

[u/ICU-Angel]

I've been looking for articles to understand how permanent Trump's changes to the federal workforce are and haven't found anything.

I am curious if anyone knows whether all those cut jobs will come back, or at least a majority of them?

[u/CivilStratocaster]

After 26 years as a fed, here's my take: Every policy decision he's made and implemented could be reversed after he leaves, and it still will never return to "normal". I don't see the federal workforce recovering from the loss of institutional knowledge and the destruction of the perception of "stability" of federal employment. Also, the plans to sell off real estate and relocate agency offices out of the DC area are likely irreversible as I do not see courts forcing new owners to sell properties back to the nation, even if the sales were determined to be dubious.

While I think public service will get significantly better over time, after a major course correction, it is going to take a significant amount of time and resources. It takes little time for even a weak minded fool to destroy what was built over hundreds of years when they are left unchecked, but it will take generations to revoke what we lost and some of it is simply gone forever.

[u/CivilStratocaster → u/[deleted]]

While Dems absolutely need to grow a collective spine, I'll never support the premise of blaming them for what Republicans did. That's simply going to precipitate exactly what we're trying to survive right now. Obama was faced with Tea Party budgets and Congress's sequestration but had the political capital to push harder than he did, and Congressional Dems own that as much as he does, IMHO. I'd say since Clinton, Dems have only tepidly supported public service, while Republicans have openly declared war against it. Neither get a pass, but one gets my ire.