Trump’s challenge from within.

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Not to throw a wet blanket on the celebratory mood among we who voted for Donald Trump last November, but RMG Research, a national public opinion research firm founded by Scott Rasmussen, released a poll this week that offers some reason for concern.

According to the poll, nearly half of federal employees plan to resist Trump administration policy. The poll further reveals that when asked how they would respond to a lawful presidential order with which they disagree, nearly two thirds of managers who self-identified in the poll as Democrats said they would ignore the directive and “do what they thought was best.”

When you consider that by a very sizable margin the majority of federal employees are Democrats, it’s clear that Donald Trump’s biggest obstacle in a second term will likely be the employees who nominally work for him.

Imagine being hired by a struggling company to turn things around. Imagine that the entirety of your life’s work will be judged based on your success or lack thereof in that endeavor.

Now, imagine that most of your employees want you to fail. Imagine further that those employees are comfortable believing that they can either ignore your directives outright or work proactively to sabotage their implementation – and get away with it.

That describes fairly accurately the state of play as Donald Trump prepares to assume office next week.

The Deep State is called that for a reason. Federal employees believe – with good reason – that administrations come and go but the bureaucracy is forever. They won’t give an inch without a fight. They’ll have the media, federal employee unions and half of Congress on their side.

This all raises two important considerations. First, federal employees who ignore lawful presidential orders based on their own political beliefs aren’t engaged in “resistance.” Use of the word, “resistance” calls to mind principled efforts to thwart tyranny, such as that of the French Resistance in World War II.

This isn’t that. What the respondents to the RMG poll are contemplating is insubordination. Insubordination is a firing offense in the private sector. It’s a court martial offense in the military of any nation.

Second, when you stop and think about it, this isn’t really about Donald Trump. It’s about the contempt in which you and I are held by those who are nominally employed to serve us.

It’s about public employees arrogating to themselves the right and power to ignore the expressed will of the people who pay their salaries. It’s about public employees substituting their judgment in place of ours as to how the country should be managed and governed.

It is utterly antithetical to the foundational principles of a free and democratic republic.

Donald Trump knows all this just as he also knows that growing public frustration with it is a big reason that he has twice won the presidency.

So, as you celebrate Trump’s return to office be both realistic and aware. The Deep State will not be brought to heel easily.

It’s going to get ugly.