Latest news with #PartnershipForPublicService
E&E News
2 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Only 1 in 3 Americans trust the government, survey finds
Only one in three Americans have confidence in federal institutions, according to a report released Tuesday by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. Although the survey recorded low levels of trust in the federal government and civil servants across different political and demographic affiliations, Republicans reported a dramatic increase in trust from 10 percent recorded last year to 42 percent. Only 31 percent of Democrats said they trusted the government this year. The strongest support for the government was found among Republicans under the age of 50. Their 46 percent rate of trust is five times last year's 9 percent. The change, the report noted, is consistent with historical patterns of trust 'being higher among Americans who identify as part of the political party controlling the White House.' Advertisement 'From 2021 to 2024, at least 70% of the public agreed the government was wasteful. In 2025, while still the majority view, the perception that the government is wasteful has decreased across the political spectrum — especially among Republicans and independents,' the report said.
E&E News
01-08-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Tracker shows Interior, DOE staff exodus
Energy and environmental agencies have seen steep staff reductions so far under the Trump administration, according to a nonprofit's new tracker. Across the government, about 150,000 civil servants have left the workforce since this administration took office, according to the tracker launched by the Partnership for Public Service. Several agencies with energy and environmental portfolios are on the tracker's list of 10 agencies that have seen the biggest workforce reductions so far in President Donald Trump's second term. The Agriculture Department ranks No. 2, having lost 21,600 employees this year. The Treasury Department tops the list of workforce reductions. Advertisement The Interior Department ranks sixth on the list with 6,250 employee departures; the Energy Department comes in next at No. 7 after 4,972 civil servants left their jobs.
Washington Post
04-06-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
The many hats of Marco Rubio
Max Stier is the president and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, a bipartisan organization focused on building a better government and a stronger democracy. Since February, Marco Rubio has traveled to several countries, helped to mediate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia (and India and Pakistan), and met with the foreign minister of Syria's new regime. Presumably, he's balanced these diplomatic missions with his normal management duties as secretary of the State Department, where he oversees tens of thousands of employees. But that's just Rubio's day job. President Donald Trump also has named Rubio as his national security adviser with the responsibility of directing the National Security Council whose staff has been upended; as acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development that he is helping to dismantle; and as acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration. Rubio's four official jobs titles are not just burdensome — they are incongruent with one another. For starters, the role of national security adviser is akin to being an air traffic controller; this person is tasked with ensuring that all national security interests and perspectives are fairly represented for presidential decision-making. It's hard to fathom how Rubio can reconcile his responsibilities at the State Department and the NSC, as leading both essentially requires him to act as player and referee at the same time. There is also no telling what to expect from his role at USAID, where there is a desperate need for expert leadership to redress the carnage from the agency's likely unlawful destruction. And, saving the strangest for last, running the National Archives plainly has no connection whatsoever to Rubio's overwhelming foreign policy duties. Thankfully, he is not claiming multiple salaries for the job titles. Rubio is not the only member of Trump's team that the president has forced to wear multiple ill-fitting, disparate hats: The secretary's balancing act is but one example of the president's unprecedented and irresponsible pattern of assigning his political appointees to multiple government roles. For Trump, loyalty is preeminent while competence and character seem irrelevant. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative who has his hands full these days negotiating Trump's tariffs with foreign nations, is also serving as the temporary head of the Office of Government Ethics, which is responsible for overseeing ethics compliance across the government by senior officials like himself. Greer is also moonlighting as acting head of the Office of Special Counsel, which protects whistleblowers against retaliation and enforces the law banning federal employees from certain types of political activity. This is truly looking to the fox to guard the henhouse. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll has been named acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a far cry from his primary duties, while Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is also the current acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency he is turning on its head to perform the opposite functions for which it was created. Richard Grenell is the president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — where Trump has fired board members appointed by former president Joe Biden — and is also serving as special missions envoy, a position that requires frequent travel. And Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, one of Trump's former criminal attorneys, has been named acting librarian of Congress (though it's unclear if he has started), a job totally disconnected from his Justice Department responsibilities — and not even in the executive branch. This appointment has appropriately raised concerns in Congress of a violation of the separation of powers, including from some Republican lawmakers. Trump's chaotic jack-of-all-trades approach to governance reflects his contempt for the federal agencies and the sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Federal employees deserve leaders, even on an acting or temporary basis, who can fully focus on the mission of their organizations, and the public equally deserves government entities that are responsive and effective. Beyond the stated chaos, Trump is also undermining the requirement of Senate confirmation with his rapid firing of top-level positions. Sure, the Senate confirmation process is slow and dysfunctional and often requires the need for acting officials until permanent appointees are approved. But Trump is compounding the Senate's backlog and shortchanging the American people by placing individuals in multiple roles. A White House spokesman recently defended the administration, saying the president has 'built a team of extremely qualified people that can be dual-hatted and get the job done.' An acclamation this full-throated is at best premature. Trump has deputized his team like a baseball coach asking his player to be at first base and in right field simultaneously — an impossible task. Senior government jobs are demanding and difficult, and even if the individuals in question are good at their primary assignments, they realistically can't handle multiple high-level responsibilities. The president should nominate individuals who can devote themselves full time to these critical jobs and avoid other roles. And while unlikely in the current political climate, Congress should hold oversight hearings to examine how the lack of full-time leadership is affecting these organizations. The bottom line, though, is that the president has placed loyalty to himself over the work and management of agencies that serve important needs of the American public. This will inevitably lead to missteps, slow decision-making, conflicts of interest and diminished services.
