WASHINGTON -- If Donald Trump becomes president, a considerable chunk of the federal workforce might quit.
Fourteen percent of government workers in a new Government Business Council/GovExec.com survey said they would "definitely" consider leaving their jobs if the GOP front-runner wins. Another 11 percent said they would "maybe" do so. Democrats, not surprisingly, were significantly more likely to say they would leave.
Many Republicans would like to see a smaller federal government, so these survey results might not be that upsetting to them. Trump has said he would be interested in eliminating the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency if he becomes president.
"I may cut Department of Education," he said in October. "I believe Common Core is a very bad thing. . ... Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations."
But the departures under President Trump could leave a vacuum at the top of the federal workforce, according to GovExec, since a majority of the poll's respondents were in senior positions.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents also said they'd feel "embarrassed" if they worked under Trump. Forty-nine percent said the same about Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The poll was sent to a random sample of Government Executive print and online subscribers from Jan. 20-26, and 688 federal employees in more than 30 civilian and defense agencies completed the survey. Thirty-five percent of the participants identified as independents, 28 percent as Democrats and 26 percent as Republicans.
The federal government has already had trouble attracting top talent in recent years with federal budget cuts, furloughs, stagnant salaries and constant bashing from politicians directed at the people who work there.
Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.
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