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Can you explain what you mean by "replacing nonpartisan heads of departments?" Also, what do you mean by "paying civil servants to move?" They're creating buy-

Can you explain what you mean by "replacing nonpartisan heads of departments?" Also, what do you mean by "paying civil servants to move?" They're creating buy-out packages for some federal employees. What evidence do you have that they are paying them to accept positions "for people like Elon" as opposed to, say, federal employees taking the buy-out and finding jobs in the private sector?

nunez 2y ago
> Can you explain what you mean by "replacing nonpartisan heads of departments?" Sure; people like the eight inspector generals that were fired [^0] or the civil servants on the NSC [^1]. > Also, what do you mean by "paying civil servants to move?" Civil servants moving into defense/public sector from the USG is a known phenomenon. Their deep ties to the USG and experience working through the process/red tape makes their value obvious to these companies. From my perspective, these buyout packages are basically warm invitations for these people to slide into equivalent roles at contractors like Lockheed/Northrup/BAH/BAE/etc. I don't have sources to back this; this is just my intuition. They'll be paid more by these companies, sure, but they're also working for the mission the execs/boards of these companies set (i.e. "people like Elon"), not the missions that are best for citizens at large. They'll also cost taxpayers more, since these contractors need to make profit on the margin. There's also long-term planning to consider. Some things, like so many Internet technologies we take advantage of, take a really long time to provide a net-positive return. Governments, by and large, can afford to spend decades funding and researching things that seem like good ideas. Private sector companies can't. There are many people that chose to work for the USG to pursue these ultra-long-time-horizon projects while being fully well-aware of how much money they're leaving on the table by not working in the private sector. Many of them are now being told "sorry, only companies that make the line go up matter now; here's a rack; go work for them." [^0] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inspectors-general-fired-trump-lawsuit/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inspectors-general-fired-trump-... [^1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/biden-national-security-council-white-house-trump-b2684527.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

nunez 2y ago

> Can you explain what you mean by "replacing nonpartisan heads of departments?" Sure; people like the eight inspector generals that were fired [^0] or the civil servants on the NSC [^1]. > Also, what do you mean by "paying civil servants to move?" Civil servants moving into defense/public sector from the USG is a known phenomenon. Their deep ties to the USG and experience working through the process/red tape makes their value obvious to these companies. From my perspective, these buyout packages are basically warm invitations for these people to slide into equivalent roles at contractors like Lockheed/Northrup/BAH/BAE/etc. I don't have sources to back this; this is just my intuition. They'll be paid more by these companies, sure, but they're also working for the mission the execs/boards of these companies set (i.e. "people like Elon"), not the missions that are best for citizens at large. They'll also cost taxpayers more, since these contractors need to make profit on the margin. There's also long-term planning to consider. Some things, like so many Internet technologies we take advantage of, take a really long time to provide a net-positive return. Governments, by and large, can afford to spend decades funding and researching things that seem like good ideas. Private sector companies can't. There are many people that chose to work for the USG to pursue these ultra-long-time-horizon projects while being fully well-aware of how much money they're leaving on the table by not working in the private sector. Many of them are now being told "sorry, only companies that make the line go up matter now; here's a rack; go work for them." [^0] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inspectors-general-fired-trump-lawsuit/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inspectors-general-fired-trump-... [^1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/biden-national-security-council-white-house-trump-b2684527.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...