Advice

On serving in the trump administration

Dear Coquette,

I was contacted by the Trump transition committee.

I read your blog religiously, and I think that you’re a measured person. I really need your advice on this matter.

I ‘m an African-American man dedicated to alleviating poverty, housing, and homelessness. I submitted my resume, cover letters, and letters of recommendation to both transition committees before election day. My entire life is devoted to helping people out of poverty. The Trump transition committee, to my amazement, contacted me for an interview. They’d like to interview and screen me for a few positions in HUD and HHS. I was told I will be interview for a policy-related position, working on a team to help implement his would be “New Deal for Black America.” The next position is more managerial, “something like a Deputy Chief of Staff” for an Office. I told them my dates of availability for the interviews, and they said they will soon get back to me for a confirmation.

I didn’t vote for Trump. I voted for Clinton thinking that she would win. I love persons of color, I want to help homeless low-income families and help calm the perverted and pervasive stigma that exists in these systems and institutions, and so I want to act as a pocket of resistance.

What do you think? Should I work for a man who has heated rhetoric with the promise of working on policy issues that could help millions of Americans?

 

Yes. By all means, serve.

Fight for the position. Act as a pocket of resistance. Protect the interests of the left. The Trump administration desperately needs forward-thinking subversives to fill its ranks. The worst possible outcome for this looming nightmare would be if the executive branch of our government were to become constipated with a bunch of right-wing, reactionary goons.

There is no shame in working in the Trump administration. You wouldn’t be working for him. Fuck him. You would be working for the American people, and we all need you now more than ever.

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19 thoughts on “On serving in the trump administration

  1. Anne says:

    Please, take the job. Like Coke, my biggest fear now is that his administration is filled with racist goons and sycophants. You would not be serving Trump, you would be serving the country.

    Bless you, and best of luck.

  2. Sel says:

    Yes, please interview, and I sincerely hope you get one of the jobs.

    My mother is a lifelong progressive and educator who for the past 10 years has worked for the New Jersey State Department of Education, much of that time under the disastrous Christie administration. She has used her position to help teachers and educational institutions navigate terrible policy and mitigate its negative effects where they can. Her work is exhausting, but important. Please, be like her if you have the opportunity. The government needs people like you now more than ever.

    Good luck. And thank you.

    • yorrick says:

      My sister is an NJ public school teacher. christie is a fucking disaster as an administration, politician and person. i’m glad someone out there is fighting the good fight for my sister and other NJ public school teachers.

      • Sel says:

        When I was quite a young child (under 10) my family lived in NJ, and my mom was a teacher at an NJ public school as well. We moved away, but since that time she’s gotten her PhD in education and eventually her work did take her back, only this time to Trenton. Nothing really meaningful to say, just musing out loud that sometimes things do come full circle. Good luck to your sister, she’s got a rough job. I know your comment would raise my mom’s spirits; when she has to wrangle with Christie appointees, she tends to feel pretty bleak.

  3. Alicia says:

    OP, you sound like an incredible person. I really hope you get the job. Good luck, and thank you so much for doing what you do.

  4. Chris says:

    Absolutely take this opportunity if you can. Let’s say it actually is Deputy something-or-other. That would be amazing.

    Fuck whoever the president is, take the job!

    I have a good friend who’s a fairly high-level employee at HUD. He’s a Democrat who has helped in campaigns and even written legislation for State of New York. Do you think he’s going to resign because Trump is in office? Hell no. He’s got a job to do, not to mention a wife and baby to care for.

    Take the job. Learn the business. Get what’s yours.

    • Jen says:

      And then I remembered I’m a librarian and probably shouldn’t be citing a random IG post in any important discussion, but it’s quite plausible.

  5. J Lynn says:

    Just keep your resume and contacts fresh in case you need to jump quick.

    And document everything, to prevent being scapegoated/fall guy’d; there is bound to be a lot of scandal and malfeasance under Trump and you don’t want to catch the blame.

    Other than that, the US is basically going to be utterly dependent on decent, responsible, experienced people who are career bureaucrats and military to protect us from what was just “elected” — technically, if not popularly. We need a steady, good crew behind the scenes as much as possible. They may be our last fail-safe.

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