The grass roots of the party are focusing on an unelected billionaire who says German public employees implemented the holocaust, not Hitler, and endorsed the German neo-fascist party in the most recent German election. Also he is leading a haphazard and non-transparent campaign to dismantle the Social Security Administration, the Veterans Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration etc.
You are right, Ed. Federal employees were not shutting down agencies; they were providing services. It wasn't perfect, but this is not how you improve problems. It's how you accomplish a coup from within. Dismantle, piece by piece.