I am 86 and a vet. I am very concerned about the proposal in Project 2025 to replace senior civil servants with Trump loyalists “to carry out the President’s desires” (p.20). The proposal reverses history. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 and subsequent laws ended the traditional spoils system, and the Hatch Act of 1939 prohibited civil servants from engaging in political activities while performing their duties. Civil service exams assured professional expertise in agencies as diverse as NASA and Veterans Affairs. Trump’s plan to end the “dark state” rests on the false premise that civil service members inappropriately blocked his efforts to have unlimited power. Perhaps they were simply doing their job.

I write from personal knowledge. My late father (1901-53) was a professional electrical engineer with the Federal Power Commission, which regulated utilities. A politically neutral civil servant, he modeled sound moral values before his untimely death. I suggest that most, if not all, civil servants are like my Dad, morally upright and dedicated to their careers and to the country. We know what happens when a person with meager experience gets in charge of a major agency. Michael Brown, a lawyer that George Bush appointed to head FEMA, is a memorable example. His handling of recovery in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina was a disaster. Do we want our civil servants to be loyal not to the country but to an absolute president, making decisions that impact our lives?

Kent Hackmann

Andover