These kids need to be smacked with a frying pan. Not that I’m approaching AARP age, but in my day, when you were an intern or entry-level employee, the task was simple: do your job and keep your mouth shut. The latter applies double for interns—you’re meant to be seen, not heard. On the Hill, we’ve seen scores of Biden staffers revolt against their bosses in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Bloomberg wrote about a new trend: unelected staffers pushing back against their bosses, also known as elected lawmakers (via Bloomberg Government):
Congressional staff … are increasingly challenging their own bosses in a bid to shift the balance of power on Capitol Hill, representing a sea change in the relationship between lawmakers and the legions of workers who ensure the House and Senate function.
A combination of factors, ranging from the Jan. 6 attacks to generational divides, are propelling unprecedented levels of organizing and activism among staff and leading to questions about the limits of those activities and convincing some to give up their jobs.
“They’re asserting themselves more,” said Bradford Fitch, president and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation.
[…]
Advocacy spread even to the official business of Congress and the Supreme Court, especially through the work of nonpartisan staff associations.
Hispanic staffers want Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children so they can work on the Hill.
LGBTQ+ staffers have called out House lawmakers for denigrating the transgender community, applauded passage of legislation codifying federal protections for same-sex marriages (Public Law 117-228), and rebutted a Supreme Court case carving out religious exemptions for contractors to those weddings.
Staff associations representing staffers of color opposed legislation eliminating the House’s diversity and inclusion office, and one representing Korean-Americans on the Hill applauded introduction of a non-binding measure condemning discrimination against Asian-Americans during the pandemic (H. Res. 153).
[…]
Lawmakers’ staff have always challenged their bosses’ positions, albeit behind closed door or by leaking to the press.
[…]
Michael Thorning, director of structural democracy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said staffers’ authorship of letters, even anonymously, could be “potentially really harmful to the institution” if it reveals internal operations or deliberations. He said training for staffers and members alike could help offices navigate these new dynamics.
“You have to, I think, either be willing to accept your boss’s decisions or be willing to find somewhere else to work,” Thorning said.
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Staffers are elected by nobody. Pound sand. https://t.co/iQWJFGCwQk
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 24, 2024
No one elected these little brats. You’re meant to answer calls and emails, pass along messages, and do whatever rudimentary work entails concerning elected representatives' daily activities. For senior staff, whatever the boss wants is the goal. Sure, you’ve earned the privilege of chiming in on specific aspects of strategy in achieving that aim, but that doesn’t entail leaking sensitive details to the press or committing sabotage. If you feel that strongly, you need to find another job.
The actions of the deep state from supposed apolitical actors in the bureaucracy and intelligence community have leeched into the worst individuals in recent college graduates in the Capitol Building who will execute kamikaze runs to try and steer their bosses and themselves on remaining on what they view as the right side of history. It's this addiction to being on the correct side of that arc that's led to truly anti-democratic antics from the Left.
You weren't elected, kids. And to the folks at the DOJ, FBI, CIA, and elsewhere in DC who have done similar things because they disagreed with Trump, the same principle applies to you, too.
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