THE BIDEN BURROWERS: Exposing a Potential Deep State Threat Against the Second Trump Administration

In 2018, The New York Times published an op-ed written by a self-described official in President Donald Trump’s administration who confessed to be “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

Deep state actors arguably helped launch the first impeachment against Trump, and intelligence agencies pressured Big Tech to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s second term has proved far more aggressive than his first, and it stands to reason that deep state actors within the administration may attempt to undermine him yet again.

While presidents appoint more than 3,000 people for political positions, the federal government directly employs roughly 2.3 million people, most of whom serve in purportedly nonpolitical, career positions.

The Daily Signal has worked to expose former President Joe Biden’s political appointees who took these “career” positions in the federal bureaucracy and remain in the government under Trump. These “burrowers” may represent a deep state threat to the president’s ability to fulfill the promises he made to the American people.

An April poll found that 75% of Washington, D.C.-based federal employees making $75,000 or more per year who voted for Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris in November said they would not follow a lawful Trump order if they considered it bad policy. Furthermore, a February Foundation for Government Accountability study found that Democrat employees outnumber Republican employees by a 2-to-1 margin across federal agencies, and 84% of federal employee’s political contributions went to Harris in the 2024 election.

While some “burrowers” may faithfully work for the U.S. government under any president, this poll suggests that the new administration likely faces a deep state threat, and The Daily Signal’s coverage aims to expose it before it becomes a problem.

The Daily Signal’s eight-part series on the Biden burrowers highlights the many Biden political appointees who burrowed into the bureaucracy.

Russiagate Advisor Turns Burrower

Lucian Sikorskyj, a former advisor to then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., appears to still be associate administrator for materials and safety at the Federal Aviation Administration.

After nine years at the FBI, Sikorskyj served on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council (and would later join Biden’s), and joined the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in February 2019. At the time, Schiff used his position at the head of that committee to suggest he had evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia that was unavailable to the general public.

In 2023, the House of Representatives censured Schiff, faulting him for having “abused” a position “of extreme trust” to suggest he had evidence of collusion that “never existed.”

Biden had nominated Sikorskyj principal deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security in 2022, but he moved to the FAA career role in September 2024.

Kamala Harris’ Lawyer and Anti-Kavanaugh Strategist

Samantha Goldstein, currently associate deputy general counsel in the Department of Defense, previously called Trump “unfit to hold office.” She worked as special counsel for then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., in 2018, specifically advising her on the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Harris engaged in extremely aggressive tactics against Kavanaugh.

Biden appointed her senior counsel at the DOJ Office of Legal Policy in 2021 and she took a career role at DOJ before ultimately joining the DOD in February.

Samantha Goldstein, O’Melveny & Myers profile screenshot.

The Environmental Justice Advisor

Andrea Delgado-Fink, a former “environmental justice” advisor to Biden, remains in the Trump administration as deputy regional forester at the Forest Service in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Andrea Delgado is currently serving as a Deputy Regional Forester in the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Region,” a spokesperson told The Daily Signal on Friday. “USDA does not comment on personnel matters beyond confirming employment status.”

Biden nominated Fink to be chief of staff for natural resources and the environment under Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and she transitioned to her current “career” FDA role in October 2024. Before joining the Biden administration, she worked at the environmentalist group Earthjustice from 2012 to 2019 and served in the Biden-Harris transition team. She also joined the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

A Biden Campaign Lawyer

Sarah Scheinman, who appears to still be serving as an attorney-advisor in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, previously worked on the Biden campaign’s legal team in the 2020 presidential election. Biden appointed her as associate general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget in September 2021, and she burrowed in in 2022.

Earlier this year, she posted a photo of herself with Biden.

Taking the Buyout

When Jeff Baran, a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, failed to secure Senate support to stay in his job, he found a “career” appointment in the bureaucracy and remained long enough to take the Trump administration’s buyout offer.

Trump designed the buyout offer to entice potentially hostile bureaucrats to leave, and Baran may have fit that definition. However, he would not have been in the position to take the buyout had he not “burrowed in” ahead of time.

Eric Holder’s Protege

Tina Thomas, currently an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., wrote on her LinkedIn profile that she “served as a strategic adviser and counselor to the Hon. Eric H. Holder,” Barack Obama’s attorney general. Holder, notorious for championing the Black Lives Matter movement and for getting held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over documents related to the Fast & Furious scandal, also launched redistricting efforts aimed at helping Democrats win elections. Thomas advised him on those redistricting efforts.

Biden appointed her to serve as senior counsel in the DOJ Office of Legal Policy in September 2021, and she transitioned to the assistant U.S. attorney role in August 2024.

An Immigration Holdover

The final name on this list, Jeff Rezmovic, does not count as a burrower, though Biden did nominate him for a political position and he continues to work in a career role in the Trump administration.

Rezmovic, who has worked at the Department of Homeland Security since 2011, rose through the ranks under then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Biden appointed him to become DHS’ chief financial officer, but his nomination died in the Senate. Toward the end of the administration, Rezmovic moved from deputy chief of staff for policy at DHS to a leadership role on the Board of Trade at Customs and Border Protection.

Ken Cuccinelli, former acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security in Trump’s first term, told The Daily Signal that “Rezmovic’s history is extraordinarily political for a career employee in DHS.”

“He would not have been continuously moved to and through the extremely sensitive policy implementation positions of the last four years if he wasn’t doing the political work of Biden/Mayorkas, ultimately being formally nominated for a political appointment,” Cuccinelli added.

It is possible that these and other burrowers are conscientious public servants, willing to follow the lawful orders of any president, regardless of their own personal preferences. However, some of these burrowers’ work histories and personal statements suggest they may pose a threat to Trump’s administration from within the bureaucracy.

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