The title of David Bernhardt’s new book stems from one of the first conversations he had with President Donald Trump when he asked who he needed to report to as Secretary of the Interior. President Trump stated, “You report to me.” On its face, that seems like the obvious upstream of communication between secretary and the chief executive; but Mr. Bernhardt gives the reader an abundance of evidence and personal experience for why that is not the case.
“You Report to Me: Accountability for the Failing Administrative State” discusses in broad terms and also in minute detail the difficulties a political appointee like himself faces when confronted with the bureaucratic behemoth that is the administrative state (commonly termed “the swamp”).
