Unelected Bureaucrats

It’s fun to make fun of bureaucracy; there are enough jokes about it to fill a meaty textbook. I’ve told some, and laughed at many others. I’ve worked in state government, which means that at one time, I was an unelected bureaucrat.

My father was also a civil servant, first with the Department of Defense (DoD), and later with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while also serving as a Naval Reservist after four years of active duty service. Every day, he went to work in his button-down shirt and khakis with a bag of lunch and coffee thermos. He was a dedicated bureaucrat, uninterested in corporate glamour or money, who was able to give my mother, brother, and me a good life. In fact, the 1989 version of my father could probably be placed next to the definition of “bureaucrat” in an encyclopedia. (He was a handsome guy in his younger days — and still is!)

It’s my father’s service to the country through his time in the military and the federal workforce that makes today’s attacks on federal workers personal for me. Despite their critical work, they’ve become the bogeyman du jour of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and MAGA, who are actively crusading against them, in service of their own self-interest and the authoritarian MAGA agenda. Elon despises the people responsible for enforcing regulations that get in his way, and Donald Trump hates the people he imagines are in the way of his autocratic ambitions. MAGA takes its marching orders from both, directing their vitriol at whomever Trump and Musk tell them to.

Civil servants at the local, state, and federal levels do more than most of us can fully appreciate. Bureaucrats at the FAA are working to ensure we can fly safely to our destinations. Those at the DoD are doing their best to keep us safe from foreign and domestic enemies and attacks. People at the Social Security Agency work to ensure we can retire with at least some financial support, and not running a Ponzi scheme, contrary to Elon Musk’s delusions. There are also bureaucrats who help us prepare for and survive national disasters, including FEMA and NOAA, as this meteorologist reminds us:

The next time you encounter a civil servant, thank them just as you would a veteran or active-duty member of the military. They all play their part in keeping us safe and healthy, even if their efforts aren’t visible. Beyond gratitude, though, these federal workers — our neighbors, friends, and family — deserve policies that protect their work, funding that ensures they can continue to serve us, and public recognition of their crucial role. Without them, society won’t function.

Lastly, thanks to my father, my favorite bureaucrat, for his service to his country and his family.