I recently wrote a column about elderly people in politics. This week, let’s take a trip in the opposite direction.
Late last month, a gentleman named Thomas Fugate was appointed as the head of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
According to the DHS website, the mission of CP3 is to prevent terrorism and targeted violence through programs and partnerships that support public safety, law enforcement, and national security. They provide funding, training, and technical assistance to the American public, police officers, teachers, and countless others.
The previous head of CP3 was William Braniff, a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. An Army veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Braniff resigned from his position in March when President Donald Trump’s administration cut CP3 staff by more than half.
It certainly sounds like Braniff left some big shoes to fill at a critically important federal agency! So who’s this new CP3 Director Thomas Fugate?
First off, he’s a graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio. In fact, the ink hasn’t yet dried on his diploma; he graduated about 12 months ago. This is because he is 22 years old.
“Dang,” you say, “this kid must be the Doogie Howser of counter-terrorism. What was he doing prior to becoming the head of CP3?”
According to his LinkedIn page, he owned his own landscaping business for two months and he worked at a grocery store. These are noble professions, but they aren’t exactly the tip of the spear in the War on Terror.
So why was this kid selected to be the head of CP3? What unique skillset does he bring to the table?
“In a generation deprived of hope, opportunity, and happiness, I saw in one man a capacity for real and lasting change: Donald Trump,” Fugate wrote on Instagram, recalling his political awakening which took place nine years ago when he was 13 years old.
Fugate interned for Republican lawmakers while he was in college pursuing his degree in politics and law, and he also had an internship through the far-right conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. He has spent the last several years doing his level best to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump’s administration, and he has succeeded beyond the point of absurdity.
I’ll start with the obvious point: no 22 year old should be in charge of a branch of a government agency. I say this as a former 22 year old. Call me crazy, but I strongly feel there should be a minimum of ten years between becoming a head of government and having to ask an adult for permission to use the bathroom.
What’s particularly galling, however, is that right around the same time that Fugate was hired to this position, the White House and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management released a 30-page “Merit Hiring Plan.” Trump has been a big advocate of merit-based hiring during his second term, saying that you shouldn’t be hired based on any of that woke DEI race or gender stuff, but on merit alone.
By the way, here’s one of the actual essay questions prospective federal employees are now asked thanks to the new Merit Hiring Plan: “How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would implement them if hired.”
Between the Merit Hiring Plan, Fugate’s meteoric rise, and the constant rhetoric about the perils of diversity, equity, and inclusion, it’s pretty clear that the federal government’s definition of “merit” has more to do with loyalty, race, and gender than actual achievement.
Put simply, they’re not looking for the right stuff, they’re looking for the white stuff.
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