Excellent rundown on how Trump will ditch civil service protections
in place that protects civil service appointees and enables him fire up to
50,000 and replace them with loyal Trump-MAGA people outlined in this REUTERS News article headline:
“How Trump aims to
dismantle the ‘deep state’ and assert control”
A brief history of the current Civil Service system and the Civil Service Law §107 with a two page overview:
For much of the 19th and
early 20th centuries, the federal workplace operated under a “Spoils System,” whereby employees were hired, promoted, demoted, or terminated based on
their political affiliation.
The spoils system fostered continual upheaval in executive branch operations.
An 1883
federal law, the Pendleton Act, intended to eliminate the spoils
system and create the civil service system based upon employees who
performed well on competitive examinations and secured appointments to
available government positions.
President Theodore Roosevelt concentrated on ending the spoils
system while expanding civil service.
The modern merit system was shaped by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA).
The CSRA created four agencies that share civil service responsibilities:
(1) Office of Personnel Management (OPM);
(2) Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB);
(3) Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA);
and the
(4) Office of Special Counsel (OSC).
The CSRA placed the authority to adjudicate federal sector
equal employment opportunity complaints under the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC).
TRUMP NOW OFFERS HIS VERSION
OF A MODERN DAY “SPOILS SYSTEM”
TAKING THE COUNTRY BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH ONLY HIS LOYALISTS IN OFFICE:
From the REUTERS NEWS article (formatted to fit the blog):
1.
Trump aims to strip job protections from about 50,000 federal employees.
2.
Critics argue Trump's “Deep State” claims are a conspiracy theory aimed at
justifying a power grab,
3. Schedule F could spread
fear and silence among federal workers legal experts and unions warn.
WASHINGTON, January 18 (Reuters) – Trump is poised to seize
greater control of the federal government than any modern president before him
when he takes office, charging ahead with plans to dismantle what he and his
allies call the “Deep State,” according to two sources familiar with transition
discussions.
The effort could get
underway as early as Trump's first day as president, according to one of the
sources, with an executive order aimed at stripping job protections from an
estimated 50,000 career federal employees, allowing their replacement by
handpicked loyalist appointees.
The Trump administration
will also push to fill the thousands of political appointments across
government as soon as possible.
The goal is to inject
political loyalists deep into the workings of government, perhaps more so than
any other recent president.
In a harbinger of what may lie ahead, Trump's team has requested the resignation of three senior career diplomats who oversee the U.S. State Department's workforce and internal coordination.
Trump allies
blame bureaucrats disloyal for thwarting his agenda during his first term by
slow-walking DOJ, Education, and other Departments.
Nearly a dozen of Trump's top appointees for his second term
have been given an explicit mandate to shake up the federal workforce, or
expressed support for those plans.
Russell Vought, nominated to
return as director of the OMB, played a central role in crafting an earlier
version of the reclassification order, known as Schedule F, as Trump was
leaving office in 2020.
The revived executive
order on Schedule F would allow agency officials to reclassify positions from
career posts to political appointments, one of the sources familiar with
transition planning said.
That would enable the agencies to fire career employees without cause and replace them.
Vought will
be aided during Trump's second term by Sergio Gor, who was nominated to head
the White House personnel office.
ON THE FIRING LINES:
Others tasked with
eradicating the “Deep State” include AG nominee Pam Bondi; the possible next
FBI director, Kash Patel; Secretary of State Nominee Marco Rubio; National
Security Adviser Mike Waltz; Education Department Secretary nominee Linda
McMahon; and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will head up Trump's government
efficiency effort (DOGE).
When asked, Trump's transition team would not provide
details on a timeline for the planned shakeup, which could take months due to
federal rule-making procedures.
Trump Spokesperson
Brian Hughes said: “The Administration
will have a place for people serving in government who are committed to
defending the rights of the American people, putting America first, and
ensuring the best use of working men and women's tax dollars.”
NOTE: Critics and
the unions that represent federal workers say there is no such thing as a “Deep
State,” and that Trump and his allies are trafficking in a conspiracy theory to
justify an executive-branch power grab.
James Eisenmann, a lawyer and expert on federal workforce policy, said
in an interview: “That Trump is
mistaken that most government employees harbor an ideological agenda and noted
that under current law, underperforming or insubordinate workers can be fired. Schedule
F would create a culture of silence and fear that could affect job performance.
People are going to be afraid to speak up or even suggest something helpful out
of fear of getting fired. When people are afraid, it's not easy to get them to
do stuff."
Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal
Workers, said in an interview: “The
new classification was aimed at creating “Secret Police” within the federal
government The incoming administration admits they will use Schedule F to
subject professional employees to professional or to political loyalty tests
and will get rid of the undesirables.”
Hughes, the Trump
transition spokesperson, did not respond to questions about what role
individual nominees would play in carrying out Trump's agenda, or to the “Secret Police” allegation.
FINDING TARGETS:
During Senate confirmation
hearings, Vought and Bondi expressed support for the policies behind Schedule
F. Vought testified that he believes portions of the federal government have
been “weaponized.”
He declined to answer questions about whether he had advised Trump to
conduct mass firings, but did say: “Reclassifying
career employees would ensure the president has individuals in a policy-making
role who are responding to his views, his agenda.”
Bondi, during her hearing, said S/C Jack Smith's probe of Trump was evidence of partisanship within the DOJ.
She vowed not to use the department to target people based on
their politics, but dodged direct questions about investigating Trump's political
adversaries.
The Biden DOJ has long denied that it pursued
criminal cases against Trump for political reasons. It did not respond to a
request for comment on Friday. The process of identifying members of the
federal bureaucracy whose views could be at odds with the incoming administration
has already begun.
In December, the American
Accountability Foundation, which operates with support from the conservative
Heritage Foundation, sent a letter to Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth naming 20
leaders across the U.S. military whom it deemed to be overly focused on DEI initiatives.
Outgoing Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin has defended such efforts, saying the diverse military reflects
the diversity of the United States.
Yitz Friedman, a spokesperson for the American Accountability
Foundation published a “Top 10 Targets” list on its website of career employees
at the DHS and DOJ that he says are resistant to increased border-security
efforts, and more names are to come.
My 2 Cents: As outlined in PROJECT 2025 (from the Heritage Foundation) all that sweeping change is now coming to light under Trump next week or so as predicted and yet he denied no knowledge of any of it.
Stay tuned folks – government is going to fail us bigtime under Trump and all he will say is blame the DEMS and Biden-Harris.
Wait and see but in the near future we will not be able to know, or understand, or recognize our government – or should I say: “The Trump Spoils System.”
Our adversaries will be delighted as
well.
Thanks for stopping.
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