How the Trump era is changing the federal bureaucracy （本文仅为英语学习交流使用。内容摘抄自：华盛顿邮报 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-trump-era-is-changing-the-federal-bureaucracy/2017/12/30/8d5149c6-daa7-11e7-b859-fb0995360725_story.html?utm_term=.60e1e6d3781a）
Era [ˈɪrə]：纪元 it was a era of austerity.
Nearly a year into his takeover of Washington, President Trump has made a significant down payment on his campaign pledge to shrink the federal bureaucracy, a shift long sought by conservatives that could eventually bring the workforce down to levels not seen in decades.
Takeover: 收购，接管。 同义词：merger acquisition takeover buyout之间的区别?
Down payment: 定金 advance payment：预付款
Shrink： 缩水，退缩。同义词：compress （侧重外压使体积减小）， compact （侧重简洁， 紧凑）I will not shrink from this responsibility no matter what difficulties we will encounter.
Eventually：最终 。 同义词：Finally （有些挫折，最后）。 Ultimately （终极，有顺序在其 中）， Eventually（强调行动）。
By the end of September, all Cabinet departments except Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs and Interior had fewer permanent staff than when Trump took office in January — with most shedding many hundreds of employees, according to an analysis of federal personnel data by The Washington Post.
Permanent staff (正式工)， casual laborer [ˈkæʒuəl]（临时工）
The diminishing federal footprint comes after Trump promised in last year’s campaign to “cut so much your head will spin,” and it reverses a boost in hiring under President Barack Obama. The falloff has been driven by an exodus of civil servants, a diminished corps of political appointees and an effective hiring freeze.
Diminishing： 减少的。
Even though Congress did not pass a new budget in his first year, the drastic spending cuts Trump laid out in the spring — which would slash more than 30 percent of funding at some agencies — also has triggered a spending slowdown, according to officials at multiple departments.
Drastic [ˈdræstɪk]：激烈的，极端的 lay out: 陈设 slash [slæʃ：斜杠；猛砍
The administration’s effort so far to reshape the workforce of nearly 2 million civil servants that serves as the backbone of the government already has provoked a contentious culture shift.
Backbone： 脊柱，勇气。 Have no backbone
Provoke [prəˈvoʊk]：挑衅，煽动（偏冲动，非策划）；incite [ɪnˈsaɪt] 后果可好可坏。 instigate [ˈɪnstɪˌɡet] 鼓动犯罪
Federal workers fret that their jobs could be zeroed out amid buyouts and early retirement offers that already have prompted hundreds of their colleagues to leave, according to interviews with three dozen employees across the government. Many chafed as supervisors laid down new rules they said are aimed at holding poor performers and problem workers to account.
Prompt: [prɑ:mpt] 促使， 敏捷的，快速的
“Morale has never been lower,” said Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 federal workers at more than 30 agencies. “Government is making itself a lot less attractive as an employer.”
Morale [məˈræl] ：士气
Administration officials said that Trump has actually improved employee morale, citing an annual survey of federal workers taken in the spring that showed a slight uptick across most agencies. They said they are streamlining the government to make it leaner and more effective.
In a statement, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Trump “is committed to streamlining government for the 21st century, reducing bloat, duplication and waste, and focusing resources on key priorities like public safety and protecting our nation’s homeland.”
Conservatives who have long pushed for smaller government are cheered by the developments.
“This is going very well,” said anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, who famously once quipped that he wanted to shrink government small enough so he could “drown it in the bathtub.”
“Slow and steady — for all the bluster, this is how you downsize government without engendering blowback,” Norquist added.
And some civil servants said they welcome the focus on rooting out waste and holding federal workers to high standards.
Root out： 铲除
The shrinking federal workforce could end up undercutting some of Trump’s priorities. Employment within the Defense Department, which Trump has promised to beef up, dropped by 1 percent, or 7,811 civilian workers across all branches of the military.
End up with
The Presidential Management Fellows program, a prestigious internship for top graduate students, has been unable to place many recruits because of a lingering hiring freeze at many agencies, according to a half-dozen current fellows.
Lingering [ˈlɪŋɡərɪŋ] 拖延
Meanwhile, other federal workers are in limbo because their jobs could cease to exist. That’s the precarious state right now of the tiny Chemical Safety Board, one of 19 small agencies Trump has marked for elimination.
Limbo [ˈlɪmboʊ] 监狱，地狱
Precarious [prɪˈkeriəs] 不稳定的
The $11 million office investigates the causes of major chemical accidents and makes recommendations for safety improvements. In early December, a White House budget official told Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland that because the deficit has grown, the safety board must do its part and prepare to shut down, she said.
Vanessa Allen Sutherland, chairperson of the Chemical Safety Board, sits at her desk . President Trump has marked her agency for elimination, but no members of Congress have yet concurred.
So far, no members of Congress have called for the board to be eliminated. But Sutherland is still busy bolstering the spirits of her 43 employees while formulating a shutdown plan. “I think I’ll definitely be there to turn out the light switches and take the Styrofoam cups with me,” she said.
bolster [ˈboʊlstə(r)] 支撑
Trump has also moved slowly in appointing the most important personnel in his government: the political leaders who are supposed to be the architects of his vision.
A slow recruitment and vetting process, combined with drawn-out Senate confirmation schedules, stalled the process. As of last week, 79 nominees across the government had waited more than 100 days for a Senate hearing.
Drawn-out: 长久的。