Deep State Bureaucrats Who Haunted Trump’s First Term Rear Their Ugly Heads

Halfway through the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, one quiet issue that haunted the president during his first stint in office is cropping up once again.

Politico reported that despite Trump firing numerous Democratic appointees at federal agencies, a handful of them are still on the job, either because they have resisted Trump’s order or were reinstated by lower-court judges. Those holding on to their positions in the federal government include Democratic donors, former Biden-appointees and Kamala Harris staffers and individuals bragging about being about to resist Donald Trump’s orders. (RELATED: Trump Declares War On Deep State Leakers)

“I’ve got more work to do here in service of you and your family, and the president does not have the authority to remove me. So I won’t take this lying down. See you in court, Mr. President,” Richard Trumka Jr., the Commissioner at Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a tweet after he was reinstated by a lower-court judge. 

Since Trump ordered his firing, Trumka Jr. has repeatedly posted videos and statements on social media speaking out against the president’s action. Trumka Jr. was previously a huge proponent of banning gas stoves, saying an “outright ban” was “real possibility,” according to the Hill.

Trumka Jr. isn’t the only appointee publicly taunting the administration.  Alexander Hoehn-Saric, also a commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission who was reinstated in June, published several statements and an op-ed slamming Trump’s attempts to fire him. 

“Although done in the name of ‘efficiency,’ these cuts have simply caused chaos. By crippling core government functions, the Administration is making communities throughout this great nation less safe and life harder,” Hoehn-Saric wrote in statement upon the news of his firing.

Hoehn-Saric later published an op-ed in The Hill while serving as commissioner titled “Don’t make me the last chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.” He served as chairman but stepped down in January 2025.

“I don’t want to be the last confirmed chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. And none of us want to go back to the days when the homes that we live in were ‘more dangerous than a booby-trapped mine field,’” Hoehn-Saric wrote in his opinion piece of Trump’s plan to consolidate the commission into the Department of Health and Human Services.

Five of the Democratic appointees fired by Trump have been reinstated by lower-court rulings. Three members of the CBP have been removed by Trump, but then took the decision to court.

A judge declined to block Trump’s removal of the CBP board members, essentially warning the officials that they wouldn’t win a challenge of the ruling. The board members saw the situation as a win, however, and pointed to part of the ruling that acknowledges that “Congress intended to preclude the President (or any subordinate officials acting at his direction) from directing, supervising, or controlling the Corporation.”

Then the CBP officials moved to sign an internal document that would keep the officials on the board, The Hill reported. The litigation between the officials and the Trump administration is ongoing.

A White House official told the Daily Caller that since all of the individuals are in ongoing litigation, the administration isn’t going to remove them from office space in federal buildings. The official added that it was a “unusual legal situation.”

The White House did not provide information on Garza, the only appointee who appears to not be involved in an active lawsuit.

A similar issue plagued Trump’s first term in office. At that time, Trump avoided any massive cuts to the federal bureaucracy even as political appointees and career officials openly discussed resisting against his agenda.

In one example, dozens of “unofficial” or “alternative” Twitter accounts were created during the first Trump administration appearing to represent the views of government staffers or agencies, CNN previously reported. Amid the controversy, the EPA banned its staffers from communicating with the media, sending press releases or promoting anything on social media.

One official who has resisted a termination order is Rochelle Garza, according to Politico. Garza was appointed by Biden to be the chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She is an attorney from the Rio Grande Valley and also the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, a left-leaning legal organization that “provides legal services to illegal immigrants and opposes election integrity measures,” according to InfluenceWatch. 

Garza previously served as a staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas from 2019-2021, according to LinkedIn. On her LinkedIn, Garza has condemned the Trump administration numerous times. 

“This week, the Trump Administration openly threatened to defy a federal court order. Let’s be clear. This is not normal and not acceptable,” Garza wrote three months ago. “Ignoring court rulings undermines the rule of law, checks and balances, and ultimately, our democracy.”

Laura Gore Ross, who was a Trump-appointed member of Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board of Directors and re-appointed by Biden, is also resisting her termination, Politico reported. For eight years, Gore Ross served as the Chief of Staff to New York Attorney Generals Louis J. Lefkowitz and Robert Abrams.

Gore Ross has also donated to Democratic campaigns and left-leaning organizations over the years, including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, Obama’s 2012 campaign and more than $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee from 2008 to 2018, according to public documents. 

Mary Boyle, a commissioner at Consumer Product Safety Commission, had her position reinstated by a lower-court judge, Politico reported. Boyle’s nomination was held up by Senate Republicans during the confirmation process because they were worried about her role in “the agency’s unauthorized disclosures of company and consumer information in 2019 and in staffing of CPSC’s import surveillance operations amid COVID-19 disruptions,” according to the National Law Review. Her nomination eventually advanced on party lines, with former Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. 

Travis LeBlanc, a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Member, has remained in his role due to a lower-court ruling, Politico reported. LeBlanc previously served as Special Assistant Attorney General of California and was a senior advisor to Harris when she served as California Attorney General, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was also a part of Obama’s Department of Justice, serving in the Office of Legal Counsel.

Similar to LeBlanc, Ed Felten has also remained in his post as a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Member due to a court ruling. He was the chief technologist of the Federal Trade Commission from 2011-2012 under Obama. He supplied Biden in 2020 and Harris in 2024 with a combined nearly $10,000 for their campaigns, according to Federal Elections Commission records. 

Despite the fired appointees’ ability to hang onto their jobs, Liz Huston, a White House assistant press secretary, told the Caller that Trump is working to “direct and reorganize” the executive branch.

“President Trump is ensuring that the federal government is finally accountable to the American people,” Hudson told the Caller. “As the head of the Executive Branch, President Trump has broad constitutional powers to direct and reorganize executive branch agencies and officers.”

Skye Graham contributed to this story.