Commonly understood, the “swamp” is synonymous with regulatory capture: wealthy, well-connected individuals and businesses exercise undue influence over legislators and bureaucrats who dream of crossing over and making more money in the private sector. Donald Trump, of course, sees things completely differently. In his view, the “swamp” consists of media people, civil servants, and judges who prevent him from ignoring the law and protocol and behaving capriciously and autocratically on behalf of himself (above all) and “real Americans.”
To that end, Trump has issued an executive order reclassifying large segments of the civil service as at will employees. No reasonable person can doubt that he plans to replace large numbers of competent, apolitical experts with toadies who will do whatever he wants regardless of the facts or the law if he wins the election.
Trump is right about one thing: civil servants and judges, not Democratic politicians, have been the real check on his arbitrary use of power over the last four years. He’s clearly determined to put an end to that as soon as possible. You can just imagine what the next four years will be like if he isn’t stopped next week.