If Governor Jeff Landry had his way, Louisiana’s government would look less like a functioning democracy and more like a political fiefdom where loyalty to the king—excuse me, the governor—trumps competence, expertise, and public service. His latest stunt? A blatant power grab to gut civil service protections and turn nearly 900 state jobs into political appointments. It’s a move so brazenly corrupt it makes Washington swamp creatures blush.
And speaking of swamps, Landry isn’t exactly an original thinker here. He’s just borrowing a page from President Trump’s “Schedule F” playbook—the same authoritarian nonsense that aimed to replace career civil servants with political lackeys in the federal government. The difference? Trump at least had the audacity to do it on a national stage. Landry is just trying to be the bootleg version right here in Baton Rouge.
Make no mistake: This is about control. Civil service protections exist for a reason—to prevent the kind of political purges and patronage hiring that Louisiana was infamous for in the bad old days. The idea is simple: You shouldn’t lose your job just because a new governor wants to install his drinking buddies, campaign donors, or unqualified hacks in positions that affect our infrastructure, legal system, and public safety.
But that’s exactly what Landry wants. By making government attorneys and engineers “at-will” employees, he can fire them on a whim. That means Louisiana’s transportation engineers—who ensure our roads, bridges, and flood control systems don’t collapse—could be replaced by whatever good ole’ boy Landry owes a favor. The attorneys responsible for holding corporations accountable? Gone, replaced by political operatives who will look the other way when their friends break the law.
The excuses for this power grab are as laughable as they are dangerous. Landry claims it will help recruit “top talent” and stop the so-called “brain drain.” Really? Louisiana’s biggest problem isn’t that workers have too much job security—it’s that they aren’t paid enough. If you want to keep talent in the state, how about raising wages instead of gutting protections? But no, instead of actually fixing the problem, Landry’s solution is to make it easier to fire professionals who refuse to play politics.
And let’s talk about how he tried to sneak this through.
The State Civil Service Commission was given just one week to review his proposal – one week to decide on a radical change that would shake up government employment for decades. If that doesn’t scream “I hope no one notices,” I don’t know what does. Luckily, the Commission wasn’t having it and rejected Landry’s scheme in a 4-2 vote.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Landry is done. His spokesperson already floated the idea of pushing legislation to take the fight to the Legislature, where he’s betting on a Republican supermajority to (likely) rubber-stamp his agenda.
Louisiana, we’ve seen this movie before. It’s the same script Trump ran with in Washington, but Landry is trying to give us the low-budget, knockoff version. The problem is, we can’t afford it. Not when our roads are crumbling, not when our coast is disappearing, and not when our legal system already struggles to serve the people over the powerful.
So here’s the deal: If you don’t want to live in a state where your safety, your infrastructure, and your legal protections are decided by a governor’s political whims, you need to pay attention. If Landry pushes this through the Legislature, call your representatives. Raise hell. Let them know that Louisiana’s government isn’t up for sale to the highest bidder. Because if we let this happen, what’s next? Firing teachers who don’t support Landry’s politics? Letting political donors rewrite environmental regulations (oh, wait…)?
Jeff Landry wants to turn Louisiana’s government into a partisan machine that rewards loyalty over competence — and if we don’t stop him, that’s exactly what we’ll get.