President Trump is bringing back the spoils system in which federal workers are hired and fired based on whether they are loyal to him and willing to implement his policies, many of which are illegal.
A new hiring plan released May 29, for example, will require all applicants seeking jobs at GS-5 or above to submit an essay identifying orders or policies issued by President Trump that they like and would help implement if hired.
Agencies are also required to hire people who are considered “patriotic” by targeting recruitment at places like religious colleges and among the homeschooling, faith-based, and law enforcement communities.
Even though the administration claims it wants to recruit veterans, Trump has fired at least 6,000 of them while hundreds of thousands of veterans stand to lose their jobs under his plan to gut the federal workforce. More than 640,000 veterans worked for the federal government before Trump’s layoffs. More than half of them are disabled.
“Federal employees should be hired based on their ability to do the job and their commitment to following the Constitution and other laws – not on their allegiance to any one president,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said.
As human resources professionals are voicing concerns about the hard-to-define “patriotism” requirement in hiring, others have sounded the alarm about the loyalty test that has produced new hires like a 22-year-old Trump campaign worker with no national security expertise but has just been promoted to lead terrorism prevention at the Department of Homeland Security.
In another example of the administration’s willful violation of existing laws, its proposed firing rule issued June 3 would give the agency unprecedented authority to quickly terminate federal employees who have been flagged by their employing agency for failing to meet suitability and fitness requirements for their jobs.
Current law requires agencies to notify employees of any proposed removal at least 30 days in advance, but OPM’s proposed rule would require employees to be terminated within five workdays of OPM making its decision.
“These changes to the job applicant process, combined with the proposal to fast-track the firing of federal employees whom OPM deems unsuitable for their positions, should be a red flag to anyone concerned that the administration is attempting to stack federal agencies with subservient employees who will do the administration’s bidding regardless of the law,” Kelley added.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has officially walked back its plan to lay off more than 80,000 employees as part of the Elon Musk-led “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) initiative.
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In a significant decision impacting the federal workforce, the Supreme Court lifted lower-court injunctions, enabling the current administration to proceed with its controversial plans for mass layoffs and restructuring of federal agencies.
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In a late-breaking development, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a temporary administrative stay of the preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Executive Order 14251.
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