With the midterms exactly one week away, and control of the House and Senate in the balance, it’s more critical than ever for a Republican president to ensure that Democrat operatives don’t have the power to make sweeping decisions for his administration. The Dossier has found, however, that leftwing officials currently hold positions of power that could derail the president’s agenda from the inside. Should Democrats get control of either chamber of Congress, Democrats across the administration who have burrowed themselves into the federal government will now be even more emboldened to sabotage the Trump Administration’s agenda.
These senior officials not only have long records of political giving to Democratic Party candidates, but they are currently serving in high level policy roles writing tax policy at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Treasury Department, and elsewhere.
Take for example Erika Nijenhuis, a senior counsel in Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy, who joined the department in September 2019, according to reports. Federal Election Commission records show she gave $2,800 to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, the legal maximum for the presidential election. She was serving in the Treasury Department at the time of the donation.
Showing her commitment to left wing causes, Nijenhuis has delivered more than $200,000 in personalcampaign contributions to Democratic candidates and committees, most of it before she joined the government. This is a stunning amount of cash for someone with a reported annual salary of approximately $191,000.
Kevin Salinger serves as Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy and acting IRS Chief Counsel. In this position, Salinger has the ability to implement regulatory policy concerning the taxes of the American people. FEC records show he contributed to Obama for America, the official presidential campaign organization for Barack Obama’s successful 2008 and 2012 election campaigns.
Tom Jones, President of the American Accountability Foundation told The Dossier, “Cleaning out the deep state across the federal government is a gargantuan task, but President Trump can’t deliver his America First agenda while people who oppose it hold senior policymaking roles in his administration. Fewer than 1% of Americans donate to political campaigns, yet two top Treasury officials, Erika Nijenhuis and Kevin Salinger, have given to Obama, Biden, Hillary Clinton and a long list of other leftists.”
Jones added, “They’re clearly hostile to the Trump agenda and should be removed from their positions immediately. American taxpayers should not risk having their paychecks manipulated at the whim of leftwing activists serving in government.”
Republicans have long distrusted the IRS, and often for good reason. Their criticism stems in large part from a 2013 Treasury inspector general report, which found the IRS had used inappropriate criteria to single out Tea Party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status during the Obama administration.
In 2017, the agency settled lawsuits brought by the affected groups, marking a significant moment for those wronged by the politicized agency.
But the issues haven’t stopped. Famously, an IRS contractor stole and leaked the tax records of thousands of Americans including to President Trump and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin to The New York Times and ProPublica.
Undoubtedly, it will leave a lot of the president’s supporters with a pit in their stomach knowing that Obama and Biden allies are serving in positions of power and influence in the Trump Administration. Democratic holdovers and policy officials have time and time again abused their power to weaponize government against Republicans. Luckily, the White House now has the opportunity to clean house before these forces continue trying to sabotage the president’s agenda from the inside.
Fire officials who turn public office into an opposition headquarters. Americans did not elect Trump so an unelected policy shop could quietly substitute its own agenda. Senior political appointees unwilling to execute lawful administration policy should surrender their offices, and officials who abuse tax authority deserve consequences reaching well beyond dismissal. Bessent also owns his personnel decisions. Salinger entered Treasury through this administration’s front door, so blaming an invisible bureaucracy cannot absolve the people who hired him. America First requires command of the departments entrusted to carry it out. Set the direction, demand results, and replace political leadership that cannot deliver. Winning an election means little if Washington’s machinery keeps running the Deep State program.
Trump is one guy. Add in cabinet officers and other political appointees and you might get to a couple of hundred. On the other side are millions of "civil service" officials. How did it get this way? I blame clueless Republicans of the past. I truly don't know how to fix it short of abolishing whole agencies and then recreating what is needed. Getting rid of USAID definitely improved America and indeed the whole world.