Fear, sadness and search for an emergency exit

Alarmed group messages that buzz with breaking news. Ordinary employees dusting off their resumes. A desperate rush to complete key initiatives before time runs out.

As President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign falters under mounting pressure for him to step aside, federal officials in Washington feel anxious and scared. They have watched nervously as the abrupt evaporation of Biden’s support has plunged the Democratic Party into an unprecedented crisis, leaving thousands of officials questioning whether they should prepare for a change in the White House — and lamenting the possible end of Biden’s tenure. administration that brought relative peace after the volatility of the Trump era.

Interviews with dozens of federal officials revealed a somber mood within the vast apparatus of the US government, including the White House, after weeks of uncertainty. Some of these officials are overwhelmed and disheartened by the Biden conundrum — and gripped by concerns about the lack of clarity about who will lead the federal government after November. Many were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

A White House official described feelings of “sadness” over the question of whether Biden should continue his candidacy.

“We have to make some difficult choices. …We are in battle,” the officer said. “We need someone who can represent us. I’m incredibly loyal to our president, but it’s hard when you put your life on the line, as many of us do every night, every day, when you don’t know who will be at the top of the ticket. ”

Large text message chains from alarmed USDA employees began lighting up the night of Biden’s disastrous debate, as administration officials shared their panic about the president and the future of his administration, according to two current USDA employees and a former -USDA official Biden.

Some USDA employees are now talking openly with colleagues about plans to leave their positions early, according to the three current and former USDA employees.

“One group of people who seem to be most concerned and perplexed would be USDA public servants, who have suffered so much and who have really stepped up to deliver on Biden’s rural agenda,” said one of the USDA officials. . “These are the people who really seemed to be thinking: Do they stay or go? Because they simply cannot bear another phase of uncertainty.”

Several USDA branches, including the team that oversees the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, have already seen significant turnover of senior career staff this year and are currently operating with multiple vacancies.

However, much of the anxiety among federal employees centers not on Biden but rather on his rival — and what a second Trump administration would entail. When he first came to Washington, the former President Donald TrumpThe “drain the swamp” mentality left many federal employees discouraged, even paranoid, about their position, fostering a widespread sense of dread that permeated their entire administration.

Trump proceeded to reduce the budgets of departments and agencies, paralyzing research and productivity, and his employees even buried the work of employees seen as contradictory to administration priorities, such as in the Department of Agriculture. In some cases, Trump named political appointees who critics said were hostile to the missions of the departments they oversaw, such as former Education Secretary Betsy Devos, who had I wanted to limit The role of the federal government in education.

“The first delivery of the Trump administration was very, very difficult and we saw a mass exodus of employees retiring,” said a U.S. Park Service official. “If we have a change in administration, other employees will also reconsider their positions and move to the private sector. I don’t know what I’ll end up doing.”

When there is a change in administration, the president handpicks a new team of employees to lead the departments, positions internally called “political”. But many of the rank-and-file employees, known as career employees, have been employed by the federal government for decades, transcending multiple administrations of both parties.

The demographics of federal employees reflect the demographics of the country overall, according to data of the Human Resources Management Secretariat.

A current Health and Human Services official said there is no consensus among his peers on whether Biden should stay or go — but many fear Democrats will lose the White House in November.

Concerns that key health policies could be gutted in a future Trump administration have overshadowed discussions about whether Biden should stay in the race, especially as officials race to finish his long list of priorities before the end of the year, the health care official said. health agency.

A former Biden administration official who recently left a financial regulator told POLITICO that they have been hit by a deluge of text messages in recent weeks from former colleagues still in the administration, freaking out about the looming possibility of unemployment if Trump wins, while asked for help.

“The temperature has increased a lot in recent weeks,” said the official. “It seems much more likely now than before the debate that they will become unemployed.”