When an ambassador refuses to help the president seek political favors as a quid pro quo, when a civil servant refuses access to sensitive personnel files to an unauthorized private actor, when a solider refuses to commit a war crime--they act on legitimate authority from an elected body, Congress. - ThreadSky

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becingber.bsky.social • 16 days ago

When an ambassador refuses to help the president seek political favors as a quid pro quo, when a civil servant refuses access to sensitive personnel files to an unauthorized private actor, when a solider refuses to commit a war crime--they act on legitimate authority from an elected body, Congress.

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becingber.bsky.social•16 days ago

More often, bureaucratic resistance is a lot more mundane -- asking questions, crossing t's and dotting i's and just making sure the paperwork is filed. What I have called bureaucratic "neutral friction." But all of this might feel menacing to a president who views himself as above the law.

becingber.bsky.social•16 days ago

In any event, I once spent a lot of time thinking about the career bureaucracy versus the deep state mythology, and I could not be more disheartened that this work is now once again so relevant. Worse than relevant -- reaching a crisis point.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3186259

becingber.bsky.social•16 days ago

I said it then and I will say it again: the career bureaucracy is not going to save us from our political choices. And it shouldn't. It can be an important hurdle, a first line of defense to a president bent on breaking the law and norms. But it is not a barrier.

becingber.bsky.social•16 days ago

And the career bureaucracy depends for its life on the courts and Congress -- and that means all of us -- continuing to support it.

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