What is as yet only dimly understood, in particular by people who continue to hope that the legal system may provide some succour from the ongoing demolition of state agencies, is that the gutting of EPA, CFPB, USAID, etc. is creating “facts on the ground” that even eventual possible legal victories will not be able to reverse.

Let’s imagine in six months or a year a bunch of these erstwhile government employees win their wrongful termination suits, what will be the result? They may personally receive some sort of compensatory payment, but they aren’t getting their jobs back — because there will be no agencies left for them to return to. Their “right of return” will be as hollow as any displaced Palestinian’s.

Or to use a different metaphor: once the operational capacity toothpaste is squeezed out of the governmental tube, it’s next to impossible to put it back in.