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'A Huge Attack.' Critics Decry Trump Order That Makes Firing Federal Workers Easier
NPR ^ | October 31, 2020 | Brian Naylor

Posted on 10/31/2020 5:22:57 AM PDT by be-baw

The Trump administration has issued a new executive order that would fundamentally restructure the federal work force, making it easier for the government to fire thousands of federal workers, while also allowing political and other considerations to affect hiring.

The executive order, issued last week, would affect the professional employees who are in policy-making positions at the very top of the civil service — people like lawyers and scientists who are are not political appointees, but serve from administration to administration regardless of which party controls the White House.

The president's order changes that, creating a new category for them — "Schedule F" — and taking away their civil service protections. In a statement that accompanied the order, the White House took aim at those protections, saying they make it too difficult for agency heads to remove "poor performers." Without the protections, the employees can be more easily replaced.

Rachel Greszler, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, which supports the order, says it's "a common sense change" to address a lack of accountability in the federal government.

"I've talked to managers in the past who say that they want to do the right thing and they want to hold workers accountable," says Greszler. "They want to get rid of the bad apples who are weighing others down and preventing the agency from carrying out its mission. But ultimately, the managers said they often gave up because they had to spend so much time and so much effort that ... it just wasn't worth it. They determined it was better to just keep these people on the payrolls and shift their job responsibilities to others. And that's a big problem."

But public employee unions say it's Trump's order that's the problem. They've said it could have a chilling effect on the more than 2 million people who make up the federal workforce — most of whom are not political appointees.

"It's a huge attack on the apolitical civil service" says Jacqueline Simon, the policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents federal workers. She says the order could mean these top positions would no longer be filled by people who have been hired through a competitive process.

"If it's implemented broadly, it could create absolute chaos in the agencies. It could be an absolute fiasco," says Simon. "Everyone's seen what happens if this administration tries to politicize scientific work. We've seen it in CDC and we've seen it in the weather service. We've seen it in EPA, we've seen it all across the agencies. Imagine every single agency undermined by political hacks."

President Trump has railed against federal workers since taking office, baselessly charging there is a deep state within the bureaucracy working to thwart his policies.

Paul Light, a professor of public service at NYU, says most recent presidents have tried to reform the federal workforce, but Trump has taken it to a new level.

"We started with a hiring freeze," he says. "We segued into a shutdown. I think the net effect is really on undermining commitment within the federal workforce and just giving feds a good Halloween scare that is likely to be overturned, but they won't forget."

Light says the net result of the order is to make a career in the federal government less appealing, at a time when many government employees are nearing retirement age.

The executive order has already led to one departure: It prompted the resignation of Ron Sanders, the chairman of the Federal Salary Council.

Sanders, a life-long Republican, says he believes the U.S. civil service is the best in the world. He warns the order could strip the government of sorely needed expertise.

"It's absolutely critical because of the complexity of that world — the laws, the rules, the regulations, the scientific theories, all of the things that go into public policy. Somebody has to understand that. You can't look at the Cliffs Notes and get it. You need people with deep technical expertise who are there regardless of party who provide neutral competence to whoever is in power."

The executive order calls on federal agencies to make a list of positions that would be affected by the new classification by January 19th, the day before Inauguration Day.

What happens next depends on who is sworn in on January 20th. It's likely that Democrat Joe Biden would overturn the order if elected. Democrats in Congress say they'll work to nullify the order, and the National Treasury Employees Union has filed a lawsuit to overturn it in court.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bidenvoters
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This executive order is much needed. Contrary to what the article claims, government workers are not apolitical. Finally, the federal government will be able to remove deep-state bureaucrats who are impeding the implementation of the Trump agenda. Whether or not the individual department heads will actually take out the trash remains to be seen.
1 posted on 10/31/2020 5:22:57 AM PDT by be-baw
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To: be-baw

“””Contrary to what the article claims, government workers are not apolitical.””””

My wife works for the government. If they found out she was a Trump supporter they would throw her out the window.


2 posted on 10/31/2020 5:25:40 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: be-baw

Leftist, how many should be fired?

Leftists, is that your idea of huge?


3 posted on 10/31/2020 5:26:59 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: be-baw
people like lawyers and scientists who are are not political appointees, but serve from administration to administration regardless of which party controls the White House.

i.e., "the swamp" that wants more & more government money for themselves. Money from taxpayers or money "creation", leveraged on the back of same.

4 posted on 10/31/2020 5:27:14 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: be-baw

NTEU should not exist.


5 posted on 10/31/2020 5:28:43 AM PDT by GranTorino (Bloody Lips Save Ships.)
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To: be-baw
Bureaucracy Kills: A Lesson from Rome
6 posted on 10/31/2020 5:29:09 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: be-baw

The Privileged Class of Fedgov “workers” needs to be taken down a couple of pegs.

Fire most of them. Put the rest on Obamacare Bronze level, peg their salaries to median private sector salaries, transfer all their pensions into the Social Security Trust Fund and they can retire when they’re 68, not 50.


7 posted on 10/31/2020 5:29:52 AM PDT by JPJones (More Tariffs, less income tax.)
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To: be-baw
but serve from administration to administration regardless of which party controls the White House

So it doesn't make a difference who controls the WH. These unelected schmucks ARE the government. They control. They are unaccountable. They are dangerous, they are by and large bad people, in the job for power, control, and money.

8 posted on 10/31/2020 5:30:01 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: be-baw
Imagine every single agency undermined by political hacks.
No need to imagine. That's what we have.
9 posted on 10/31/2020 5:31:08 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: be-baw

“the laws, the rules, the regulations, the scientific theories, all of the things that go into public policy. Somebody has to understand that.”

Shouldn’t the people expected to obey the laws and regulations be able to understand them too?

A mere theory is a weak basis for infringements on liberty.


10 posted on 10/31/2020 5:31:08 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: shelterguy; MinuteGal

“It could be an absolute fiasco,” says Simon. “Everyone’s seen what happens if this administration tries to politicize scientific work. We’ve seen it in CDC and we’ve seen it in the weather service. We’ve seen it in EPA, we’ve seen it all across the agencies. Imagine every single agency undermined by political hacks.”

Talk about a total lack of self awareness. They ARE the political hacks.


11 posted on 10/31/2020 5:33:06 AM PDT by flaglady47 (Donald Trump, President for Life (heh, heh))
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To: be-baw

“Apolitical civil service” ? Hummmm let us think about that ....
Looks like Donald the great hit a nerve , on the target , once again !


12 posted on 10/31/2020 5:33:13 AM PDT by Ulysse
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To: be-baw

I’ve been a lifelong computer software contractor. I absolutely love what I do for a living and I’m good at it. The only jobs I hated where those that had to do with a government agency. They were filled with the most conniving backstabbing evil sons of bitches I ever met. It was rare to find a nice person. But when you did they were afraid to speak and were usually those that kept quiet and set at their desk all day.

That is why I don’t want The government running anything, let alone everything.


13 posted on 10/31/2020 5:33:51 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
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To: P.O.E.

The ability for federal civil servants to unionize is not due to a law passed through congress. It is due to an executive order written by JFK. Subsequently, virtually all of the problems within the various alphabet agencies are rooted in this executive order. Btw, being their ability to unionize was due to an executive order it appears to me that Trump can modify or even rescind JFK’s EO as well.


14 posted on 10/31/2020 5:35:02 AM PDT by snoringbear (,W,E.oGovernment is the Pimp,)
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To: be-baw

And the second thing he should do is defund NPR.


15 posted on 10/31/2020 5:36:56 AM PDT by Bladerunner (Clash quote.)
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To: be-baw

Remember Lois Learner of the IRS?Don’t know if her position would have been covered here but I do know that she was PROTECTED from above and below!

It may be hard to believe but through the first century of this country, the majority of US Government employees were in the Post Office.


16 posted on 10/31/2020 5:37:27 AM PDT by SES1066 (2020, VOTE your principles, VOTE your history, VOTE FOR ALL AMERICANS, VOTE colorblind!)
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To: Mr. K

100% agree. I was on a two year contract implementing software for the govt. It was impossible just to get people to show up for training. It was unreal.The most incompetent people I ever met and they were rude.

These are the people who never have to worry about being laid off, love the lockdowns. I pray Trump blows it all up for them


17 posted on 10/31/2020 5:37:43 AM PDT by ground_fog ( My God this was from today!S)
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To: be-baw

Ooooh noooo! Now they will have to do their jobs or get fired.


18 posted on 10/31/2020 5:42:52 AM PDT by doc maverick
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To: snoringbear
It would seem so, but recent history says no.

Trump’s attempt to overturn an Obama executive order on immigration with another executive order was rebuffed by the courts.

19 posted on 10/31/2020 5:43:07 AM PDT by gov_bean_ counter (In this circus called the Democrat Party, Biden is the monkey and Harris is the organ grinder...)
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To: be-baw

Line them all up and fire every 10th one.

Then tell them every week they don’t do what is ordered there will be a new line-up and 5th one will be fired.

You won’t need the second line-up.


20 posted on 10/31/2020 5:44:16 AM PDT by Beagle8U ("Chris Wallace comes from the shallow end of the press pool.")
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