The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy

224 pages. Dj lightly markedThe election happened, remembers Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, then deputy secret ary of the Department of Energy. And then there was radio silence. Across all de partments, similar stories were playing out Trump appointees were few and far be tween; those that did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new workplace. Some even threw away the briefing books that had been prepa red for them. Michael Lewis's brilliant narrative takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its own leaders. In Agriculture the funding of vital programs like food stamps and school lunches is being slashed. Commerce ma y not have enough staff to conduct the 2020 Census properly. Over at Energy, whe re international nuclear risk is managed, it's not clear there will be enough in spectors to track and locate black market uranium before terrorists do. Lewis fi nds the linchpins of the system-those public servants whose knowledge, dedicatio n, and proactivity keep the machinery running. And he asks them what keeps them up at night. --Publisher description. …