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One would think that having worked for a president – any president – would make someone extremely employable – but this is apparently not so for former Trump staff members. Those who have left the Trump administration, as well as those who are looking to leave, are finding that no one wants to hire them. Many companies consider hiring a former Trump staff member to be too risky.

James Joyner, of Outside the Beltway.com, writes that one Washington consultant who recruits government officials for the private sector said, “There’s a legal risk there…a certain level of uncertainness around the toxicity. Generally, there aren’t a ton of jobs waiting for those people.”

“Legal risk” refers to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation, as well as the other legal troubles that engulf the current White House. Many firms see it as potentially hazardous to hire a former Trump staff member who worked in the White House during the time of these investigations; what if their new hire is implicated?

The toxic environment of the Trump White House is troubling to many firms, who see former Trump staff members as tainted by it. Did they contribute to the toxicity? Did they support it? Are they toxic themselves?

According to Joyner, a bipartisan public affairs firm in Washington has stated that it will not hire former Trump staff members because doing so could damage the firm’s reputation. Companies who have traditionally considered it a win to hire people associated with a presidential administration do not want to hire those associated with the current administration – one they see as that of “a president famously disloyal to his people.”

Due to the high turnover in the Trump administration, the penchant for Trump to fill posts on a whim, and the fact that many highly qualified people simply declined to be part of Trump’s administration, Trump has ultimately hired what many consider to be “second- and third-tier.” Consequently, former Trump staff members are not always viewed as high-caliber.

It’s often a little challenging for members of a former administration to find jobs when the opposite party gains control. Though it’s tempting to blame partisanship for the wary and unfriendly hiring conditions facing former Trump staff members, the firms and recruiters who say they won’t be hiring them are largely bipartisan. Even those firms who align more with the right are just too wary of the risks of hiring a former Trump staff member.

Insider: President Trump White House Is ‘Most Toxic’ Workplace On Earth | The 11th Hour | MSNBC [2018-03-14]

An inside look at the White House staff dynamics | Fox Business [2017-05-30]

After serving since 1998 in Washington, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has announced that he will be retiring in January. Though a certain amount of House turnover should be considered normal (the average is 22 members during each cycle), Paul Ryan joins an unusually large current number of Republicans who will not be running again.

To date, at least 43 Republicans in the House have announced that they will not run for re-election. Though there is speculation about the “real” reason Paul Ryan is retiring, Ryan cites wanting to spend more time with his children as his reason for stepping down.

But some speculate that Paul Ryan is afraid he’ll lose if he runs again in November. Recent polls show dissatisfaction with the current state of the Republican party. In a Newsweek poll, for example, only two-thirds of Trump voters said they would definitely vote for a Republican representative in the next election.

On today’s spectrum, “conservative” is a relative term. Though Paul Ryan, a “classic Conservative,” may be seen as too conservative by many, he is not conservative enough for others, such as members of the Freedom Caucus. Many will see Paul Ryan’s departure as a positive, but for varying reasons. Though Democrats may applaud the fact that Paul Ryan is stepping down, his exit and subsequent replacement is likely to turn on the faucet of Trumpism full-force.

“This party is the party of Trump now…This is the bloodletting of classic conservatives (like Paul Ryan),” said Meghan McCain, on ABC’s The View.

McCain speculates that one reason for Paul Ryan’s retirement now is that “He doesn’t want to deal with it any more. He doesn’t want to go home to his constituents in Wisconsin and try to explain some of the tweeting, and some of the more incendiary things that Trump is doing right now.”

Indeed, of the 43 House Republicans who have made the choice to leave office, some are leaving in the wake of various scandals, others are running for a different office, but several, such as Senator Jeff Flake and Rep. Charlie Dent, have openly stated that they are doing so because they can no longer support the “dysfunction, disorder, and chaos” (Dent) in the Trump administration.

Paul Ryan likely has more than one reason for not seeking re-election, and we can only continue to speculate. All of us would like to believe that it is because he wants to be there for his children. Many of us would also like to believe that it’s at least in part because he can no longer stomach the current political climate in Washington. No matter what the full truth is, though, Paul Ryan’s departure leaves our government at risk of being thrown even farther off balance than it already is.

Paul Ryan Won’t Run For Re-Election | The View [2018-04-11]

Paul Ryan retiring over trouble with Trump? | Fox Business [2018-04-11]

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Former Trump Staff Members: A New Job is Hard to Find

Paul Ryan to Retire