On the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, some people who work for the federal government are worried.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly pledged to dismantle the administrative state and fire those they deem disloyal. For example, Trump's former (and likely future) Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought threatened to "traumatize bureaucrats." This includes the possibility of weakening rules designed to protect civil servants from political interference.

Amid these threats and loyalty tests used to vet potential appointees, many career civil servants worry they could end up in an ethical bind, caught between the directives of their bosses and their duty to serve the American people.

During Trump’s presidency, I spoke with 66 career civil servants working across agencies, including some of the most contentious parts of the government. I tracked their experiences and challenges in office from 2017 to 2020, conducting a total of 116 interviews. These form the basis of my forthcoming book, The Loyalty Trap. This work identifies some of the ways long-term government workers can stay sane, keep their jobs, and continue to serve the American people.

maintain quality of work

As was the case during Trump's first term, veteran colleagues are advising government employees to "keep calm and keep your head down," The Washington Post reported. Some are already trying to protect potentially politicized work. For example, they are trying to revise job titles that use terms like diversity or climate. Their goal was to use words that were less likely to be targeted by the incoming administration, with more indirect references to climate change and civil and human rights protections.

The stress is real: During Trump’s first term as president, several federal civil servants I spoke to said their mental health was deteriorating, as were morale, productivity and innovation at work.

A significant number of the people I interviewed were too stressed out at work; about a quarter of the people I spoke to resigned during the first Trump administration.

Those who remain face the suspicion of Trump appointees, the threat of political retaliation, and the marginalization of expert guidance. Many people report feeling very lonely. Nearly all attempted to remain loyal to serve the presidential administration. But faced with threats and conflicting advice from leadership, some of which they believe may be illegal, and without clear guidance from above, some workers are unable to complete their jobs.

As one middle-aged mid-level manager told me, when a senior employee at his agency was ousted because some Trump allies publicly criticized the agency’s work, “They found someone to punish. It's had a very chilling impact on everyone." The manager said it was "terrible" to see people lose their jobs just for doing a good job.

He said that in this case, helping appointees sometimes means "just doing very little, frankly... just doing what's necessary, and that means waiting to help educate people as we move forward." What are their choices in the process and not get too excited about” things. Because it's safer. "

He also noted that mid-level employees face difficulties as appointees fight over policy agendas that trump their own. He said the appointees "wanted things that were directly contradictory to each other... so I don't know what happened. I don't know what any of that stuff means."

Being caught up in such a chaotic situation left the employee torn between becoming "a sly salesman and looking good" or facing "unintended consequences." Or, "It's also possible that you're not a savvy salesman and are now in trouble, but there may be no unintended consequences. So you have a choice, and none of them sound very good."

Some career civil servants avoid sharing their pain and challenges with each other, not wanting to burden others facing hardship or failing to uphold their own professional standards. As one lawyer who practices international affairs told me, “There’s less real sympathy—everyone has their own particular burdens—and more just frustration that normal procedures aren’t working.”

Yet even among those who felt the most isolated, I found that they shared many experiences with others who also felt isolated and who were trying to walk a precarious moral and ethical tightrope between their desire to loyally serve the president-elect. — Under chaotic leadership and inadequate and inadequate leadership. Sometimes questionable legal guidance and a high-quality job of upholding the law for the benefit of the country and the American public.

maintain government operations

Some civil servants say they are trying to do their jobs as they did before the Trump administration took over to keep departments running smoothly. Given the conflict among appointees, Trump family members, the president and other Trump allies whose roles are unclear, some are waiting to get formal orders from authorized supervisors. Fearing retaliation, they wait rather than expect guidance—just as they did under leaders with clearer instructions who fostered more workplace trust, communication, and compliance with organizational structures.

Civil servants also stress the importance of documenting illegal conduct and other serious ethical violations they witness on the job, even if they choose not to share their records at the time. When they feel they are in psychologically safer working conditions under different leadership, or when they can help hold others accountable for illegal or inappropriate behavior, some report it to official channels (such as the departmental inspector general's office) or Congress Oversight Committee Staff Reports.

Some in the most politicized parts of the government stress the importance of trying to keep the islands functioning even amid a sea of ​​chaos. A senior leader has spoken of trying to maintain "the program's overall footprint" and a "strong workforce" despite complying with government directives to reduce the size of its work.

Those who managed best in places where government was most chaotic and politicized reported having strong relationships both within their unit and outside government. They said they were able to maintain ethics and integrity at work because of the support of their supervisors, mentors, and peers, and shared a commitment to the public, democracy, institutional mission, the law, and the Constitution. Some reported the importance of maintaining a personal moral compass through local volunteer work, support from family and friends, and participation in religious organizations.

When their values ​​and commitments contrasted sharply with the agenda of the first Trump administration, some civil servants reported trying to express their opinions and solicit more feedback from superiors before making decisions. Some people reported that they believed walking-slow jobs were detrimental to the best interests of the public or the state. Overall, though, after appointees make their decisions, civil servants say they will do their best to respect and support them and the president-elect.