It Is Just How the D.C. Swamp Works (and Why It Doesn’t “Work” for Us)

The D.C. swamp works incredibly well for insiders like “Ali,” but not for the taxpayers who get stuck with the bill.

As a veteran of a presidential administration, I sometimes get invited to events for alumni. Recently, I received an email invitation for the “DHS ‘Bipartisan’ 20th Anniversary and Holiday Reception” from a guy who was a fairly low-level staffer for Secretary Tom Ridge when we both worked at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the George W. Bush Administration. This guy has run the group since its inception and now has a consulting business tied to DHS. I’ve never attended these annual gatherings because (1) unlike most veterans, I didn’t stay in the National Capitol Region so it would cost me to attend, (2) my business doesn’t depend on sucking up to current DHS staffers so I can lie to clients that I have access and insights they should pay me to get, and (3) the handful of former colleagues I’d want to see I already see or chat with routinely. 

As the invite states, the “draw” this year is that, for the first time as the boss, “Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro ‘Ali’ Mayorkas will be joining us for the evening.” I laughed when I saw the blurb for a few reasons. First, I didn’t know Mayorkas goes by the pet name “Ali.” I don’t recall any of the other former secretaries going by pet names. It was always Secretary Ridge or Secretary Chertoff when I was at DHS. Secondly, I laughed because, if I did attend, I wouldn’t call him “Ali;” rather, I’d call him a hyper-partisan, lying, no-good hack undeserving of a formal title who has done more to undermine America’s security and harm Americans than just about anyone and who should have been impeached by the U.S. House by now if the Republicans had any guts. Lastly, I’d challenge him to a policy debate on all things immigration, which he would decline knowing that his actions over the last three years are indefensible anywhere other then in front of a congressional committee where half of the Members will do anything to excuse his actions and the other half are just trying to get clickbait videos they can post to social media and fundraise off of.

I frankly don’t know how ANY veteran of either the Bush or Trump Administrations could stomach attending any event with “Ali” or the other Biden Administration appointees at DHS. Unlike the Obama Administration that largely treaded water on immigration, the Biden Administration has launched a full-frontal assault on any immigration policy that heretofore at least pretended to keep a lid on illegal immigration and all the terrible things that come with a porous border. From fully opening the southern border to repealing the smart Trump policies like "remain in Mexico," from reintroducing "catch and release" to granting anyone who steps foot on U.S. soil with quasi-permanent residence, from flooding the system with refugees to fighting all state efforts to control illegal immigration within the states, “Ali" and his DHS squad have bent over backwards to bring in as many illegal immigrants as will come.

Coming across that same porous southern border as the illegal immigrants are the Mexican drug cartels with their fentanyl from China that has killed nearly 1,000,000 Americans over the last decade; the human trafficking that forces tens of thousands of young kids and women to have sex with 20-25 people per day for months on end until their bodies are little more than empty husks; the criminals who commit crimes in the U.S., including murder, that would never have occurred but for “Ali” prying open the border; spies from countries like China; and terrorists from countries like Iran. The Bush and Trump veterans who attend this year’s event with “Ali” can pretend they don’t know the immense damage he has done to our country, but no one who isn’t tainted by chasing the all mighty dollar could stomach being in the same room with ”Ali." Let me be utterly clear: every assault, robbery, rape, and murder that has been committed by an illegal immigrant in the last three years is on the hands and head of Joe Biden and “Ali" due to their intentional actions to open the southern border to any and all who come because, had they secured the border, those criminals would not be here and the lives they damaged or ended would still be okay.

Bush and Trump veterans have to pretend because that is just how D.C. works. You see, after serving a presidential administration, many of the political appointees become lobbyists for corporations, law firms, or lobbying groups. Most leave the administration with a year or so left in the president’s term so they can cash out when their value is at it highest point because (1) their former colleagues are still in control of the federal agencies thereby giving them access and intelligence lots of corporations will pay top dollar to get and (2) the next election hasn’t resulted in the other party taking control yet. If the latter happens, their value plummets since they likely won’t know the political appointees from the other party, which means no access and no intelligence. One way to mitigate that is to attend parties like the DHS one so you can suck up to the other side’s appointees to at least give the impression to clients that you still have access and information (i.e., they’ll tell as many clients as they can charge a $1,000 hourly fee that "I ‘met' with X from DHS and learned Y” without disclosing it was at a holiday party and the Y they learned was just worthless gossip). The other side’s political appointees have an interest in doing the same for them because they know they might be back in power should their side win the next election. Both sides have lots of appointees who jump back-and-forth between presidential administrations and corporate gigs, with promotions to bigger roles for each jump. It really is an incestuous swamp.

“Ali” is a great example. He first worked for Bill Clinton when he was appointed to be the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California from 1998 to 2001. After his Clinton Administration position, he joined the big law firm of O’Melvany & Myers as a partner for what likely was a significant chunk of money (despite have no book of business to bring to the firm to justify his pay). Shortly after Barack Obama won the presidency, Obama selected him to be the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within DHS from 2009 to 2013, followed by a promotion to be the Deputy Secretary at DHS from 2013 to 2016. After his Obama Administration stint, he joined the even bigger law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr as a partner making even more money (again, despite having no book of business to bring to the firm to cover his costs). Joe Biden then appointed him as the Secretary of DHS in 2021. Rest assured, once his time at DHS ends in 2024, he likely will join another big law firm as a partner, become an MSNBC or CNN Contributor, and sit on several corporate boards of directors, which will make him insanely wealthy. Not bad for a largely lifetime government lawyer without any book of business clients.

Given how much money gets spent by the federal government and how few things it does actually work well, for as much as the D.C. swamp works incredibly well for insiders like “Ali,” other political appointees from both political parties, lawyers, lobbyists, government contractors, and bureaucrats who get rich, it doesn’t work at all for the rest of us—the taxpayers who get stuck with the bill and the constant problems the federal government creates for us in our personal and business lives.

P.S. A recent WSJ poll showed some interesting results. Beyond Trump besting Biden in head-to-head and multi-candidate elections, Trump holds commanding leads on the key issues of who is better able to handle the economy, inflation, crime, border security, and the Israel-Hamas war. Even more interesting is that Biden barely defeats Trump on the question of who is better able to handle the tone in politics, with both men under 40 percent. Given how often Americans have been told about Trump’s harsh tone and how Biden was a uniter whose 2020 election win was to bring normalcy back to the White House, this result vividly demonstrates both the weakening of the media’s grip on information/spinning narratives and the Right’s improved ability to fight in the trenches. These outcomes bode well for a 2024 victory for Republicans.