TYLER O’NEIL: Former Harris Lawyer Now Works for a President She Called ‘Unfit to Hold Office.’

Biden’s National Security Council now works in President Donald Trump’s administration as an ostensibly non-political staffer in the Department of Defense, even though she wrote an op-ed calling Trump “unfit to hold office.”

While presidents appoint more than 3,000 people for political positions, the federal government directly employs roughly 2.3 million people, most of whom serve in ostensibly nonpolitical, career positions. The Office of Personnel Management tracks when political appointees transition to career positions—a process often referred to as “burrowing in” to the bureaucracy—and Samantha Goldstein did so in 2023.

“Drain the swamp” was a popular catchphrase during Trump’s first term, and it remains just as important today.