Just hours before right-wing strategist Steve Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress, the podcaster cheered a reported plan by former President Donald Trump and his allies to "gut" the administrative state of civil servants and career employees to "reshape" the federal government.
Bannon, who served as chief executive of Trump's 2016 campaign and a top White House adviser for several months in 2017, has long promoted a plan to prepare thousands of "shock troops" who are supportive of the so-called "America First" agenda to take over government roles if Republicans take back the White House. Axios on Friday reported details of such a plan, citing individuals reportedly involved in the discussions.
"Trump, in theory, could fire tens of thousands of career government officials with no recourse for appeals. He could replace them with people he believes are more loyal to him and to his 'America First' agenda," the Axios report by Jonathan Swan explained.
"It would effectively upend the modern civil service, triggering a shock wave across the bureaucracy," Swan reported.
Bannon shared a link to an article about the Axios report to Gettr on Friday. The right-wing strategist wrote: "The Shock Troops for National Renewal—Deconstruction of the Administrative State."
In another post, the former Trump administration official wrote: "Trump 2.0—forget 'draining the swamp'—This Plan Takes On and Takes Down the Administrative State—most ambitious program from a Republican since Reagan." The post included a link to a Daily Mail article about the report titled: "Trump would 'fire tens of thousands of civil servants' and 'gut the government' to sort his agenda if he runs and wins in 2024."
The prominent Trump ally previously touted the plan on his War Room podcast in December. He discussed the idea with GOP Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida during the episode.
"This is Trumpism in power. That's when we went to the 4,000 shock troops we have to have that's going to man the government," Bannon said. He called on Trump supporters to prepare to take control.
"Get them ready now. Right? We're going to hit the beach with the landing teams and the beachhead teams and all that nomenclature they use when President Trump wins in 2024—or before," he said.
Bannon's Friday posts came right before he was convicted by a grand jury for contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena to appear before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol. Ahead of the violence and destruction inflicted on that day, Bannon said on his January 5 podcast episode: "All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. It's all converging, and now we're on, as they say, the point of attack."
Bannon was previously indicted in August 2020, accused of defrauding donors to a crowdfunding campaign to help build Trump's long-promised wall on the Mexican border. Trump pardoned him on January 20, 2021, just as he departed the White House at the end of his term.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's press office for comment.
Notably, Trump has not publicly confirmed whether he plans to seek the presidency again in 2024. The former president has repeatedly teased the possibility and is reportedly planning to announce such an intention soon—potentially even before the November midterm election.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jason Lemon is a Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to taking on the editor role, Jason's reporting focused on ... Read more
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