The FBI spent years targeting Donald Trump.
Some of them are still on the payroll – and betting Trump runs out of time.
Attorney General Todd Blanche had a warning for anyone in the FBI's Deep State who wants to undermine the President.
The Deep State Question That Put Kash Patel on the Clock
Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan put it to Attorney General Todd Blanche directly at a Rose Garden press conference: "There's concern among the MAGA base that there's a lot of ideological actors in the FBI and DOJ still that are waiting out President Donald Trump and the next possible Republican administration to get back to doing what they were before. Are you concerned about that? And what are you doing about that?"
Blanche laid out what steps the Justice Department is taking to stop rogue actors from undermining Trump.
"Ideological – any ideology that any federal employee has, whether it's a federal agent or somebody at the Department of Justice or any other agency that works in this administration – and the executive is never a good thing," he said.
"One of the things that Director Patel has been doing, and that I've been doing and other cabinet secretaries have been doing, is making sure that everybody that works in this administration, whether you're a career or a political, are doing work that's consistent with the President's agenda."
"That's what you have to do if you're going to work in the executive. That's what Article II says."
Blanche added: "It's not something that I 'worry about,' but when and if we learn about that happening, we'll do whatever we can to stop it."
John Brennan Admitted the Deep State Is Still Inside the FBI and DOJ
Former CIA Director John Brennan went on MSNBC in May 2026 and confirmed it on camera.
"There's still a legion of professionals in the law enforcement environment, Department of Justice, as well as the CIA and other places," Brennan said – framing bureaucrats who slow-walk presidential orders as heroes doing noble work.
Brennan is currently under DOJ investigation for making false statements to Congress about the Russia witch hunt and the Steele dossier – the same man now going on television to celebrate unelected employees blocking the president Americans voted for.
How Schedule F Just Pulled the Rug Out From Under Career Federal Employees
The administration isn't waiting for Brennan's next MSNBC segment.
In February 2026, the Office of Personnel Management finalized the Schedule Policy/Career rule – formerly known as Schedule F – converting roughly 50,000 policy-influencing career positions into at-will employment. OPM made the case for it inside the rulemaking document: "We have a boatload of empirical data that there is misconduct and policy resistance among career civil servants."
A confidential draft of that same rule had already been leaked to the press before publication – making the argument for the administration on its own.
Kash Patel has been cleaning house at the FBI since taking the director's chair. Agents connected to the Mar-a-Lago raid, the January 6 investigations, and other Trump-targeting probes have been shown the door.
Field office leaders in Atlanta and New York were removed in January. Former acting director Brian Driscoll – who fought the administration's personnel decisions at every turn – was fired in August 2025.
The FBI Support Network, launched in June 2026 by former officials and terminated agents, exists to help employees who got caught resisting Trump's agenda find lawyers and soft landings.
They're calling it support. Everyone else can see what it really is – a lobbying operation for the people who weaponized federal law enforcement against a presidential candidate.
What Attorney General Todd Blanche Said About Article II and the Deep State
Blanche cited the Constitution, not department policy.
Article II vests executive power in the president and directs him to ensure the laws are faithfully executed. Career employees who slow-walk that authority aren't protecting institutional norms – they're defying a constitutional directive.
Heading into the 2026 midterms, the Trump administration is no longer playing defense on the deep state question. Blanche standing at a Rose Garden podium and invoking Article II puts that fight squarely on offense.
The career bureaucrats who thought they could ride out Trump's second term the same way some tried to survive his first have run into a problem: the Schedule Policy/Career rule stripped their biggest protection, and the FBI Support Network exists precisely because agents who once had guaranteed tenure no longer do.
Sources:
- Drew Berkemeyer, "Daily Wire Asks What Happens To FBI, DOJ Employees Caught Putting Politics First," The Daily Wire, September 15, 2026.
- "Trump admin moves to finalize return of Schedule F," Government Executive, February 5, 2026.
