Dem
47
GOP
53
At the very end of his first term, Donald Trump signed an XO to implement his Schedule F project. This would reclassify up to 50,000 civil servants as political appointees. Civil servants are covered by the 1883 Pendleton Act and can't be fired except for malfeasance. By reclassifying 50,000 people as political appointees, Trump could stack the bureaucracy with his flunkies. Of course the next Democratic president could fire them all and put in his own people. But that would be reinstating the spoils system, which the Pendleton Act was meant to end.
One of the first things Joe Biden did after being inaugurated is cancel Trump's Schedule F XO. Now Trump is putting it back in place again. And because he is doing it so early in his term this time, it is very likely that within 4 years, he will have replaced 50,000 civil servants, unless the Supreme Court says he can't do that. Under the new rules, if the president says you are gone, then "Poof!" you are gone, with no need for pesky hearings or appeals.
Oh, and if a civil servant is fired, that person need not necessarily be replaced. The position could be kept open—that is, de facto eliminated. That could be useful if someone important somewhere decided to downsize the federal government. We could see some of that. But in many cases, the government would function less well and people would get poorer service. Some people might see that as a feature rather than a bug. (V)