Trump's rebellion against the Washington lawyers' guild

Daily Caller:

Someone like Donald Trump is almost incomprehensible to the polished Washingtonian marble buildings and cliquish button down power structure that governs the Beltway. Of course, his indefatigable Tweeting, inarticulate speechifying, obnoxious high school bravado and cheerleading are jarring for all but his most ardent supporters. But the real problem is he challenges the orthodoxy of a town that has become so ossified by the legal profession that process has become far more important than any outcome — the exact opposite of Americans’ self-image of can-do rugged individualism.

In Washington, lawyers oppressively rule and any measurable outcomes are merely an inconsequential byproduct of a vast bureaucratic infrastructure, which has been built to perpetually churn out mountains of the most arcane analysis; justify, write, and then re-write mind numbing rules and regulations; as well as establish, codify and argue legal positions, all with no urgency or concern of cost, not to mention whether or not these exercises have any demonstrable effectiveness. Clearly the legal profession, by design, is risk averse and set up to protecting us; therefor Washington immediately dismisses any departure from well-established legalistic processes and procedures, as Trump is prone to do.

Most citizens wrongly assume the president’s political appointees run the federal government agencies. However, anybody who has worked in these organizations or with these organizations knows the real power always resides with their general counsel’s offices. Meaningful change must come through the numerous law firms/lobbyists whose well-paid ranks — mostly attorneys — effortlessly move in and out of the government’s constantly revolving door. This system admirably perpetuates a status quo that handsomely benefits the legal power structure as is demonstrated by the fact that some of the most affluent zip codes in the country now are in the leafy suburbs of our nation’s capital.

Enter Donald Trump, a man who annoyingly and incessantly reminds us that he gets things done — the Grand Hyatt at the heart of a decaying late 20th century New York City, the infamous ice rink in Central Park, Trump Tower, etc. He likes to boast, “America is a nation of builders. We built the Empire State Building in just one year. Isn’t it a disgrace that it can now take 10 years just to get a minor permit approved for the building of a simple road?” As a builder he well understands that frequently difficult and timely decisions have to be made based on limited information and calculated risks since there may not be enough time to explore all possible eventualities before the cement dries. Contrast this to Washington, D.C. where time and cost have no meaning, except of course billable hours, and where bureaucrats would rather pursue every conceivable argument and indulge in every possible outcome while the cement sets. And if it sets before they’ve finished their “important work” it doesn’t really matter because it can be torn out and replaced at the government’s expense and nobody cares.
...

There is more.

Trump appears to be frustrating a lot of lawyers from the DOJ-FBI to the regulatory agencies.  It is what draining the swamp looks like.