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ILLUSTRATIONBYJUSTINMETZ,PHOTO:ALAMY◼ REMARKS
Democracy Needs
A Good Bureaucracy
○President-electBidenmustrepair
theharmdonetotheU.S.government
underTrumpandbegintobuilda
modern,expert-ledcivilservice○ByRomeshRatnesar
Typically,thestartofa presidentialadministrationis filled
withexpectation.Victoriouscampaignstaffersarrivein
Washingtontoclaimjobsatfederalagencies.Lobbyistscom-
mandeerhotelballroomsforbreakfastbuffetswithincoming
powerbrokers.Magazinesassignfashionphotographerstodo
shootsoftheWestWing’snewestinhabitants.
Themoodwon’tbequitesoheadythistime.WhenJoseph
R.BidentakestheoathofofficeonJan.20,2021,hewillinherit
thegravestnationalcrisisfacedbyanynewpresidentinthe
past 75 years.Althougha vaccineforthecoronavirusmaybe
readyforinitialuse,infectionsarelikelytoremainrampant
asAmericansendurea wintercrowdedindoors.Tensofmil-
lionswillstillbeoutofwork,andmanychildrenmaynothave
returnedtotheclassroom.Membersofthepresident’sownstaff
maybeforcedtoworkremotelyformonths,evenastheybegin
takingactiononpolicyprioritiesrangingfromhealthcareand
climatechangetotradeandnucleararmscontrol.
Thenthere’sa lessobviousbutperhapsevenmoredaunt-
ingchallenge:rebuildingthegovernmentafterfouryearsof
DonaldTrump,whoseassaultonthe“administrativestate”
hasdemoralizedfederalworkersandchasedawaythousands
ofcareercivilservants—the very specialists best suited to help
the country find a way out of its current morass. America’s
calamitous pandemic response has exposed the costs of
Trump’s war on expertise. “We’ve got a number of broken
agencies that desperately need repair,” says Paul Light, a pro-
fessor of public service at New York University and a senior
fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Biden’s half-century of experience in Washington, includ-
ing eight years in the executive branch, makes him uniquely
qualified to lead the reconstruction project. Depoliticizing fed-
eral agencies, restoring bureaucratic morale, and strength-
ening accountability for political officials will be among his
immediate priorities—but the new president should also seizethe opportunity to push through long-overdue reforms to
make the government more nimble and dynamic. In the spirit
of candidate Biden’s campaign slogan, here are five impera-
tivesto“buildbackbetter.”①EMPOWER THE SCIENTISTS
On Nov. 9 the president-elect announced the creation of a
councilofadvisersonthecoronavirus,madeupofpromi-
nentphysicians,infectiousdiseaseexperts,andformerfed-
eralpublic-health officials. By elevating scientific voices, Biden
sentanimportantsignalofchange.AmongalloftheTrump
administration’sfailuresinhandlingthepandemic,nonehas
provedmorecorrosivethanitsunderminingofgovernment
scientists,notablyDr.AnthonyFauci,thetopinfectious dis-
ease specialist. White House officials have exerted pressure on
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food
and Drug Administration to influence public-health guidance
and speed up therapeutic-drug trials and the pace of vaccine
approvals. Trump has personally defied medical profession-
alsandspreadfalseinformationabouttesting,Covid-19fatality
rates,andalleged“cures”forthedisease.Theeffecthasbeento
heightenmistrustonallsidesaboutpublic-health officials’ pro-
nouncements, making it even harder to defeat the pandemic.
“These organizations, the CDC and the FDA, were once the
envy of the rest of the world,” says Ali Nouri, president of the
Federation of American Scientists. The “gold-standard” agen-
cies “have now become politicized under Donald Trump. That’s
done great harm that will take a long time to repair.”
The erosion of the government’s scientific knowledge base
extends beyond agencies focused on the pandemic. The admin-
istration has marginalized career employees at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which collects data
relatedtoclimatechange,andreplacedtheagency’stopscien-
tistwitha climatechangedenier.It’sforceddozensoftopscien-
tistsoutofgovernment,includingtheheadofmineral-resources
research at the U.S. Geological Survey and the archaeologist at
the National Park Service who was responsible for protecting
historic public sites from the effects of climate change.
A May 2020 survey by the Environmental Data and
Governance Initiative found that because of budget cuts and
“neglectful and disdainful treatment of career staff ” at the
Environmental Protection Agency, more than one-quarter of
those with relevant expertise in environmental science had
left the agency since 2016.