If Democrats regain the White House and a governing majority in Congress, they won’t just inherit a broken political system – they’ll inherit a gutted government. Years of politicized purges, mass resignations, agency hollowing, and deregulatory vandalism have left America’s federal institutions threadbare. From the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Justice, the task ahead won’t simply be to govern, but to rebuild.
This is the work of national reconstruction – bureaucratic, fiscal, and moral.
Top Three Takeaways from the Article:
Rebuilding America’s Institutions Is a Generational Task – After years of political interference and neglect, key federal agencies – including the DOJ, EPA, IRS, and State Department – must be rebuilt with new staff, stronger protections for career civil servants, and renewed independence from partisan control.
Public Service Must Be Reimagined and Reinforced – Restoring faith in government requires hiring over 100,000 skilled workers, expanding fellowships and regional offices, and making civil service a respected and well-supported national mission again.
Progressive Tax Reform Is Essential to Fund Reconstruction – Returning to Eisenhower-era tax rates for the ultra-wealthy and introducing a small tax on high-speed financial trading could generate hundreds of billions annually – enough to rebuild core government capacity, strengthen social programs, and stabilize the economy.
The Departments That Must Be Rebuilt From the Ground Up
The Department of Justice (DOJ)
The DOJ will require the most immediate repair. After years of politicization, loyalty tests, and interference in prosecutions, the department’s independence has been eroded. A Democratic administration must restore civil service protections, rehire nonpartisan career attorneys, and rebuild the Office of Legal Counsel as a firewall against executive abuse. This includes enforcing clear norms that prevent presidential meddling in active investigations.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Once the global gold standard for environmental regulation, the EPA has been hollowed out by deregulation and staff attrition. Over 1,500 scientists and analysts have left since 2017, and environmental enforcement has dropped to historic lows. Rebuilding the EPA will require hiring roughly 3,000 new staff – a combination of scientists, environmental lawyers, and inspectors – and reinstating key climate and clean water enforcement programs dismantled under Republican administrations.
The Department of Education
Decades of underfunding and privatization efforts have left the Department of Education weakened, especially in its oversight of for-profit schools and protections for borrowers. Restoring its regulatory power, especially around student loan servicing and public school equity, will mean adding roughly 1,000 enforcement and policy staff to the Office of Federal Student Aid and the Office for Civil Rights.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Few agencies have been more systematically sabotaged than the IRS. Staffing is down by more than 30% from its 2010 peak, and audits of the wealthy have plunged. A rebuilt IRS must hire at least 20,000 new auditors, accountants, and data specialists to restore enforcement capacity, particularly for high-net-worth individuals and multinational corporations. That investment would pay for itself many times over.
The State Department
Diplomacy has been replaced by bluster. Reversing years of politicized appointments and talent loss will require a massive recruitment campaign, restoring at least 5,000 Foreign Service and Civil Service positions and rebuilding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to lead global climate and humanitarian initiatives.
Restaffing a Government Hollowed Out
Across the federal government, the Office of Personnel Management estimates a shortfall of over 100,000 skilled civil servants compared to pre-2016 staffing levels. Reversing that requires more than hiring – it demands restoring trust and prestige in public service itself.
A Democratic administration should:
- Reinstate the Presidential Management Fellowship pipeline and expand it to state universities and historically Black colleges.
- Offer loan forgiveness for graduates entering federal service in science, law, and technology.
- Rebuild regional offices that were shuttered or consolidated, especially in the Departments of Labor, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to restore local oversight and responsiveness.
This isn’t “big government” – it’s functional government.
How to Pay for It: A Modern New Deal in Tax Policy
A serious rebuilding effort requires serious revenue – and that means confronting decades of top-heavy tax policy.
Return to Eisenhower-Era Tax Rates
In the 1950s, under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the top marginal tax rate was 91% on the richest Americans. It didn’t crush innovation or destroy the economy – it funded highways, schools, research, and the largest expansion of the American middle class in history.
A modernized version could restore a 70% top marginal rate on income above $10 million, combined with a minimum effective corporate tax rate of 25% and a surtax on extreme wealth over $1 billion.
Tax High-Speed Financial Transactions
The explosion of algorithmic and high-frequency trading has turned capital markets into speculative casinos. A 0.1% tax on high-speed trades in stocks, bonds, and derivatives would raise an estimated $75–100 billion annually, curb volatility, and reward long-term investment over automated micro-speculation.
Together, these measures would generate more than enough revenue to fund government reconstruction, expand social programs, and reduce deficits – all while shifting the tax burden back toward those who have benefited most from four decades of deregulation.
Rebuilding for Resilience
Rebuilding government is not just about numbers – it’s about purpose. For decades, conservatives have sold the myth that “government doesn’t work” and then proven themselves right by defunding and demoralizing it. Democrats have an opportunity – and obligation – to reverse that cycle.
This means:
- Making public service a national calling again.
- Restoring the independence of inspectors general and career experts.
- Making evidence-based policy – not ideology – the foundation of governance.
- Using fiscal power to rebuild infrastructure, education, and health from the bottom up.
The Bottom Line
Rebuilding the federal government will take at least a decade, 100,000 new public servants, and a fiscal policy that reflects mid-century ambition, not austerity. But the payoff is monumental: a government that works, a democracy that delivers, and a nation that remembers what it means to invest in itself.
The real question for Democrats isn’t whether they can afford to rebuild.
It’s whether America can afford not to.