The Trump administration is deeply antagonistic to Obama, and that includes any "Obama-holdovers" working for them. How does this apply to civil servants who are all Obama holdovers? 1/
In some cases, the paranoia is so intense that national security appointees in charge of the Middle East ranked "Obama holdovers" above ISIS as the primary threat. newyorker.com/magazine/2018/… 
Tillerson dealt with senior civil servants who had worked on Obama's policies by putting them in charge of FOIA requests. This is like relegating a great lawyer to photocopying duties. 3/
There is an agency - the Merit Systems Protection Board - that exists to review cases of mistreatment of civil servants. But Trump delayed making any appointments to it for sixteen months, meaning it did not have a quorum as complaints grew 4/
Trump's appointees to the Merit Systems Protection Board are a former military lawyer and an SSA lawyer who defended the agency against accusations of employee mistreatment. govexec.com/management/201… 5/
At the Dept of Interior, career employees are removed from their jobs if not sufficiently loyal. Thats what happened to a communications official who questioned have political appointees have oversight over FOIA requests about them 6/ newyorker.com/magazine/2018/…
The attack on the career civil service is not as eye-catching as other Trump scandals, but its may be among the most consequential to US governance. Take some time to read this piece by @eosnos 7/ newyorker.com/magazine/2018/…
