“If we have a Trump or Milei project, few people will lend their support,” theorizes an official from the general management of the Treasury, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly like others interviewed for this article. But, “if it’s a Meloni scenario, some will come out of the woods and help out.”
The few senior officials who have rallied the party to the flame, however, are trying to reassure. Former prefect Christophe Bay, RN candidate for the legislative elections in Eure-et-Loir, dismisses the idea of a “spoil system,” in which the arrival of a new power changes the heads of administration.
“We absolutely will not carry out a witch hunt in the senior civil service,” the former campaign director of Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential campaign told Public Actors.
Waves of resignations in sight?
If senior officials were tempted to resign, not everyone would be in the same boat. The members of the Council of State and the Court of Auditors, particularly protected, could return without difficulty to their original bodies, since reintegration is done by law.
“There will be a separation between those who have a body in which they can repatriate quickly and the others,” predicts a state adviser. “It’s much easier to have a principled position when you have a host body as a rappel rope.”
Resignations “would further fuel the hatred of the RN electorate for the elites,” believes another state councilor, who imagines that any departures will remain marginal.
