Four Quitters Walk Into a Bar... : Interviews with Public Servants Who Quit Under Trump

What makes a lifelong public servant choose to leave their job? This piece features four American civil service workers, ahem, former civil service workers, who left their jobs under the Trump administration. Three of the four had served under presidents from both parties, but all have seen a major departure from their agency missions in a way that they could not continue to work under. Sharon McGowan of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Walter Shaub of the Office of Government Ethics, Mike Cox of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Ned Price of the CIA and National Security Council spoke about the experiences that led them to quitting their jobs. 

It started to sink in at different times for each individual, from before the election, on election night, or after the inauguration. But the feelings described were similar. "I’ve worked with six administrations — from Reagan’s until this one — and we’ve had differences in opinion, but there was never the feeling anyone was coming in to dismantle the organization and really do damage to it. But we felt like that from the very first time Scott Pruitt had an all-staff meeting." says Cox. All programs around climate change were on the chopping block. Shaub says "the commonality I'm hearing is the unwillingness to rely on experts," describing times where the appointee of his organization was "clearly in over his head." Others cited a clear disrespect for employees of agencies, lack of commitment to responsibility, and more. "At that point I realized these guys were capable of just about anything... so I became concerned that I would be window-dressing for corruption."

In the end, these individuals were still hopeful that federal service might still be a noble endeavor, despite everything they had seen in the last year and having left their positions to serve in other capacities. How that could work out remains to be seen.