It's possible, given time, for a weak programmer to become a solid programmer, but the programmer has to 1) recognize that they're a weak programmer 2) want to

It's possible, given time, for a weak programmer to become a solid programmer, but the programmer has to 1) recognize that they're a weak programmer 2) want to improve their programming ability and 3) be part of an organization that allows them to do so. From what I've seen of government bureaucracies and the sort of people they attract, I'd be willing to suggest that none of those things (especially (3)) will be generally true of this new organization.