The incoming president, QAnon and Republican conspiracy theorists all demand that the “Deep State” be exposed and defeated. They may succeed, but you will not like the results. Because the Deep State is not really a conspiracy at all and is not an enemy of the American government. What is an enemy of the nation is the intent to end the opposition to a president by making a personal loyalty test the sole arbitrator of public service.

 Rumors of those interviewing for jobs in the new Trump administration suggest that candidates are asked two questions that must be answered carefully and correctly. The first question is about a candidate’s thoughts on Jan. 6; the only allowable answer is that it was not meaningful at all, or, alternatively, it did not happen. The second question is about the 2020 election, and the only allowable answer is that Trump won the 2020 election despite the obvious fact that he lost that election. Candidates who recall the actual history of these two events cannot be hired to serve in the Trump administration. It is a loyalty test that should be prohibited in the United States, as those who would serve the nation must state their loyalty, not to an individual, but to the Constitution.

President Trump’s ambitions for loyalty go far beyond the political appointees who will be submitted to the Senate for approval. All of them must demonstrate that, before competency, their litmus test is openly expressed loyalty to Mr. Trump. One only needs to consider the clown-like qualifications of a number of Trump’s choices to grasp that his intent is not at all about qualifications.

But Trump wants to eliminate all opposition within the federal government. Opposition is defined as anyone who might resist his authority or direction in any way. To accomplish this goal, he is prepared to end civil service protections for approximately 50,000 federal employees, subjecting their positions to his approval and support and terminating them without cause.

This is not exactly a new idea. In the earliest days of the United States, presidents picked friends, donors and family for government jobs when the federal government was but a tiny shadow of its current form. This did not work well because it invited corruption and ignored specific talents and skills for government jobs.

By 1883, the Pendleton Act had created a professional civil service in which expertise was required, candidates had to pass examinations to qualify for positions, and individuals could not be fired without due process.

Over the next 150-plus years, this fundamental act created what is now called the Administrative State, a cadre of professionals fulfilling the laws passed by Congress. As the size and complexity of government grew, so did the expertise and skills of those the government employed in public service.

For the Trump administration, this all posed a problem. In his first administration, Trump discovered that the Administrative State, in fact, worked to protect continuity in government by serving as non-political experts, unimpressed by presidential actions that violated the laws and regulations determined by Congress.

You may consider this not truly exceptional but rather just fine-tuning the wheels of government. But that reading would be deeply flawed, given that the rule of law and the separation of powers have guided the United States through the many challenging periods of the Republic.

The Deep State is not the problem here. The problem is an autocratic President who has little or no respect for the laws and institutions that bind the nation together. Nothing reveals more distaste for the American system than Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 to overthrow the 2020 election.

Jim Crawford is a retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.