Author Michael Lewis believes most Americans do not know that civil servants in the federal government take an oath of office.
asserted
servants → believe → office
"I didn't know," he said.
asserted
he → know → ?
"I don't think I knew even after I'd written a whole book about them.
asserted
I → think → them
So, I assume not."
asserted
I → assume → ?
"I, ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
asserted
I → swear → which
So help me God."
– Civil Service Oath of Office, U.S. Code § 3331.
For Lewis, pursuing knowledge is a calling.
asserted
pursuing → help → knowledge
He has conjured up bestsellers and box-office hits out of deep-dives into data, from Wall Street ("The Big Short," "Liar's Poker"), to the NFL ("The Blind Side"), to baseball ("Moneyball").
asserted
He → conjure → baseball
Lewis likes to challenge assumptions, including those about the occupants of Washington's federal buildings – government workers, sometimes derided as faceless bureaucrats.
asserted
Lewis → like → bureaucrats
"That's the stereotype," Lewis said.
asserted
Lewis → say → ?
He believes people who distrust government don't understand what it does: "They don't like the government, or they think they don't like the government.
asserted
they → believe → government
They think they don't trust the government, but in fact they just don't know how much they trust the government.
asserted
they → think → government
They take the trust for granted.
asserted
They → take → trust
Every time they drink water out of the tap, or fly on an airplane, or eat food, or put dollars in their bank account, they're trusting the government.
asserted
they → drink → government
"And I thought, who are these people?
asserted
people → think → ?
We live in a society that is largely focused on personal ambition.
asserted
that → live → ambition
It's a free market capitalist society and people are really interested in money and fame," he said.
asserted
he → say → money
"To find people who are some of the most valuable people on the planet, who are interested in neither money nor fame, but have found some other purpose, who have a sense of public spirit, who are not selfish – and the government is a place where you can really do stuff that makes a difference, and it attracts these people.
asserted
it → find → people
Lewis' latest book, "Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State" (to be published Oct. 6), profiles workers confronted by DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency, championed by President Trump and his mega-donor, billionaire Elon Musk.
asserted
book → publish → Trump
Musk promised massive savings of "at least $2 trillion" from cutting government, and targeted government workers he called "blockers."
"It's an insult," Lewis said.
asserted
Lewis → promise → workers
"A 'blocker' is a word that Elon Musk likes to toss around.
asserted
Musk → like → that
He told all the 20-year-olds who came to work for him in DOGE to go find the 'blockers,' the people who would get in the way of doing what he wanted to do, and get rid of them.
asserted
he → tell → them
"I was blocking people from violating the law"
asserted
I → block → law
"I mean, if you want to say I was blocking people from violating the law, then I guess that's a fair term," she said.
asserted
she → mean → law
Once a top executive in the Internal Revenue Service, Walters was responsible for protecting taxpayers' personal information.
asserted
Walters → protect → information
She said, of President Trump's executive order creating DOGE, "Executive orders are normal.
asserted
orders → say → DOGE
And as long as they're lawful, our job is to administer them.
asserted
job → administer → them
So, she wasn't trying to block executive orders?
asserted
she → try → orders
"No, no, no," Walters said.
asserted
Walters → say → ?
"I've been in the government for every administration since Bush, so I've worked for them all, and that's normal."
asserted
that → work → them
But after DOGE's arrival, nothing seemed normal to Walters.
asserted
nothing → seem → Walters
She says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began asking for information on undocumented workers who had been paying taxes to the U.S. Treasury.
asserted
who → say → Treasury
ICE would later specify in a memo they were only seeking information on individuals under criminal investigation.
asserted
they → specify → investigation
"They came out and said, 'Well, we're thinking of approximately, probably seven million [people],'" Walter said.
asserted
Walter → come → people
"And I questioned in my head, I did not believe there could be seven million active criminal investigations going on."
uncertain
I → question → head
Walters says she resisted for months, and ultimately she resigned.
asserted
she → say → months
"After I left, the IRS handed over the data," she said.
asserted
she → leave → data
The Treasury Department's Inspector General has since found that ICE did not meet "safeguarding standards"; and federal courts have ruled that privacy rights were violated.
asserted
rights → find → standards
[The Trump administration continues to argue it has acted within the law.
asserted
it → continue → law
]
Walters said, after trying to stop what she saw as a violation of the law, she left the IRS when she felt she could not stop it.
uncertain
she → say → it
Asked how tough of a choice that was for her, she replied, "In one respect, it was a simple choice.
asserted
it → ask → respect
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
