How can they reprimand them (let alone fire them) when they were just doing what they were told to do by the higher-ups?
Most of the people that need firing are political appointees and not subject to process discussed. I’ve been in the government civilian side for about 10 years and I agree its hard to fire a GS but not impossible. In this case it will be very hard IF there is no history of poor performance and if they were following instructions.
While this is a problem in singling out conservative groupsd it may not be “technically” illegal. In that case no firing would likely hold up to an appeal with no past history, no illegal activity and instructions from their supervisor.
Actually, firing a GS may help this case if they have something in writing directing them to target these groups. That’s why I always archive my email and print a hard copy of anything that might come back to bite me.