26 NEWSWEEK.COM NOVEMBER 27, 2020
immediately following Biden’s victory have done
nothing to allay those concerns.
True, during their remaining time in office, lame-
duck presidents throughout U.S. history have used
executive orders, as well as presidential pardons, reg-
ulatory decrees, judicial appointments and even mil-
itary action, to help secure their legacy, undermine
the guy who just defeated them or pay back friends
and foes alike. But given that Trump has pushed—
some might say obliterated—the normal boundar-
ies of how a president behaves, many D.C. insiders
worry he may supersize the chaos an outgoing com-
mander-in-chief can cause. And, in fact, Trump has
already disregarded the rules of how an outgoing
president behaves, first by refusing to concede the
election and then by blocking the Biden team’s ac-
cess to secure workspaces, security clearances and
funds dedicated to the work of the transition.
The October executive order looks like Exhib-
it A in what could be a very long list of actions toTwo weeks before
Election Day, President Donald Trump startled
official Washington with an executive order that
threatened to unravel the country’s 140-year-old civil
service system. The White House insisted the move—
which makes it easier to fire government lawyers,
scientists and other employees in policy-making
positions by placing them in a new job classifica-
tion—was designed to remove incompetent people
who are protected under current rules. But outraged
observers in and outside the administration feared it
gave Trump more latitude to dismiss people he views
as disloyal or working to undermine his agenda.
To those in Joe Biden’s circle, however, the action
was regarded as a direct threat: a portent of the dam-
age Trump would be able to do while still in power
over the 78 days between Election Day and Inaugu-
ration Day, when the powers of the presidency will
change hands. And Trump’s actions in the period FROMLEFT
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