Feds Are “The Swamp” Says House Majority Leader

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) took on a popular phrase from President Trump, outlining that “the greatest threat to America’s people, economy, and Constitution” is the federal bureaucracy.

“Washington’s many agencies, bureaus and departments propagate rules that weigh down businesses, destroy jobs, and limit American freedoms, “he wrote. “Career bureaucrats who never face the voters wield punishing authority with little to no accountability. If there’s a swamp in Washington, this is it.”

In speaking with GovExec, Bill Valdez, president of the Senior Executives Association said in response, “Every rule-making comes from one of two sources -- either it’s congressionally-directed, or it’s directed from the White House. That’s just the way the system works.”

“People like to talk about unelected bureaucrats, but it doesn’t really line up with the way things generally happen in Washington,” said Jeff Neal, a former senior executive and current senior vice president at ICF International. “What happens is, an administration says, ‘these are our priorities,’ and they push things in the direction that they want to go, and when they do, the career employees carry that out.”

Read McCarthy’s full op-ed on his website.