Thousands of plum jobs up for grabs under Trump

Washington

THE biggest Help Wanted ad in eight years will materialise in Washington, DC, first thing on Monday: A plum-coloured paperback listing 9,000 political jobs that will be available for those who want to work in Donald Trump's administration.

The 226-page Plum Book - so called for the desirable jobs that change hands at the end of a presidential term - lists every patronage position in the executive and legislative branches that could be filled by Trump supporters. They're the policymaking and support positions that will form the spine of the real estate developer's new government, and they'll be vacated by the Obama administration by Jan 20.

We only say could be filled, because the president-elect made a campaign promise to shrink the federal bureaucracy - and transition officials say he plans to make good on that pledge. So many of these positions could be aboli…