One campaign promise that President Donald Trump will never abandon is his intention to massively overhaul the administrative state. Trump's budget proposal this week is said to accomplish just this, shrinking the federal budget to a historic extent, according to a report from The Washington Post.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on "Fox & Friends" Monday morning to explain why these cuts were necessary and to offer a preview, of sorts. The conservative Trump adviser said that the heads of federal agencies will have to identify the federal workers who are "totally opposed to us" so that they can relieve them of their duties.
"Abraham Lincoln, when he came in, fired 70 percent of the senior bureaucrats in the federal government because he had to get rid of southern sympathizers," Gingrich said in an attempt to provide historical context.
Disloyalty to the new administration is not the only reason that Gingrich supports massive budget cuts.
"We may have the largest federal offices in rural Idaho and Montana you have seen," he said, suggesting these are excesses the federal government can do without.
For the most part, Gingrich said he was mostly concerned with anti-Trump civil servants who are trying to sabotage the government.
"There are a lot of folks out there who ain't for Donald Trump and aren't going to help him," he said.
NEWT GINGRICH: Abraham Lincoln fired 70% of the senior bureaucrats in the federal government when he took office (via @ffweekend) pic.twitter.com/WR7e6n0DT9
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 13, 2017
Trump is expected to release a spending budget later this week that will prioritize the military and homeland security while slashing many other areas, including housing, foreign assistance, environmental programs, public broadcasting and research, according to the Post.
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