'Stunning' Executive Order Would Politicize Civil Service

[brooklynite]

Source: Government Executive

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order creating a new classification of “policy-making” federal employees that could strip swaths of the federal workforce of civil service protections just before the next president is sworn into office.

The order would create a new Schedule F within the excepted service of the federal government, to be composed of “employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions,” and instructs agency heads to determine which current employees fit this definition and move them—whether they are members of the competitive service or other schedules within the excepted service—into this new classification. Federal regulations stating that employees hired into the competitive service retain that status even if their position is moved to the excepted service will not apply to Schedule F transfers.

Positions in the new Schedule F would effectively constitute at-will employment, without any of the protections against adverse personnel actions that most federal workers currently enjoy, although individual agencies are tasked with establishing “rules to prohibit the same personnel practices prohibited” by Title 5 of the U.S. Code. The order also instructs the Federal Labor Relations Authority to examine whether Schedule F employees should be removed from their bargaining units, a move that would bar them from being represented by federal employee unions.

“Except as required by statute, the civil service rules and regulations shall not apply to removals from positions listed in Schedules A, C, D, E, or F, or from positions excepted from the competitive service by statute,” the order states.

Read more: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/10/stunning-executive-order-would-politicize-civil-service/169479/

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My wife believes this would apply to her.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Got your EO right here:

This is the statement he released. The EO is a separate thread.

Thu Oct 22, 2020: Trump Adds Flunkies to the Federal Workforce

FACT SHEETS

President Donald J. Trump Is Taking Action to Promote Good Governance and Accountability Within the Federal Workforce

Issued on: October 21, 2020

{snip}

ENHANCING ACCOUNTABILITY: President Donald J. Trump is taking action to increase accountability for Federal employees who make substantive contributions to executive branch policy.

• Today, President Trump signed an Executive Order giving Federal agencies more flexibility to hold career employees in critical positions accountable.
• The order establishes a new classification within the Federal workforce titled “Schedule F” for employees serving in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions that are not normally subject to change as the result of a presidential transition.
• Under the order, Federal agencies will have more flexibility to hire “Schedule F” employees and will also be able to remove them without going through a lengthy appeals process.
• This action will enhance accountability for Federal employees who are responsible for making policy decisions that significantly affect the American people.
• The order will not affect the Senior Executive Service.

RESTORING PROPER OVERSIGHT: Agencies should be given greater flexibility to address poor performance in these positions.

• This order authorizes agencies to reclassify positions to better reflect their importance in developing and implementing policy.
• Removing poor performers, even from these critical positions, is time-consuming and difficult.
• The Government Accountability Office reports that it takes 6 months to 1 year to remove Federal employees for poor performance.
• Surveys show career Federal employees have long been frustrated with the failure of their agencies to hold poor performers accountable.
• Employees holding positions eligible to be reclassified as “Schedule F” should be held accountable for high performance, given their duties are vital for effective government operations.
• The order also prohibits certain personnel actions against “Schedule F” employees, including actions on the basis of the employee’s partisan affiliation, other protected characteristics, or because of the employee’s status as a whistleblower.

IMPROVING FEDERAL RESPONSIVENESS: President Trump has worked tirelessly to promote an efficient and streamlined Federal bureaucracy.

• President Trump has delivered on his promise to put in place commonsense reforms to ensure that the Federal Government better serves all Americans.
• In 2018, the President issued three Executive Orders to enhance the efficiency of Federal operations and reform the civil service to better work for the American people.
• The President signed game-changing legislation to bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs and remove poor performers.
• President Trump and his Administration are working to reform and modernize the Federal hiring process.

Here's the EO:

Thu Oct 22, 2020: Executive Order on Creating Schedule F In The Excepted Service; October 21, 2020

EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Executive Order on Creating Schedule F In The Excepted Service

Issued on: October 21, 2020

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 3301, 3302, and 7511 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

{snip}

[Harker]

2. Scorched earth...

and poisoned wells.

Bridges blown and tracks torn up.

[Born Free]

26. "F" Troop

[rzemanfl]

3. Jeb Bush did something similar to me years ago. My position was reclassified to "exempt."

I went from having one week of paid vacation to three and from paying around $100 a month for health insurance to paying zero. It was not a bad trade off for being an at will employee. I would have quit before anyone fired me anyway and ultimately did years later under Prick Scott.

[58Sunliner]

4. We know what this is designed to do.

Is he dead yet.

[EarthFirst]

5. No fucking way he came up with this on his own...

Who put him up to this?

[Rebl2]

8. Who do

you suppose put him up to it? Miller maybe?

[maxsolomon]

18. Miller isn't this much in the weeds.

This is Think Tank stuff.

[Rebl2]

32. Yes you

are right.

[OrwellwasRight]

38. Probably Scalia's idea

It sounds like an idea the Secretary of Employers would come up with.

[canetoad]

24. Bannon. nt

[SergeStorms]

33. Yep,

the Bannon/Breitbart "brain trust".

[hedda_foil]

6. Biden better stop this one first.

[WA-03 Democrat]

7. Swings both ways.

Take and replace his political reforms with ours and then rebuild the agency to be independent again. It would help - clean up takes a ton of bandwidth.

[Rebl2]

9. Biden

will have a ton of cleaning up to do.

[DallasNE]

10. How Can This Be Performed By Executive Order

As this subverts the will of Congress. It clearly opens up an avenue for a power grab and on a grand scale. Also, this type of change should never occur with less than 2 weeks before an election.

[James48]

15. It will take some time to do.

Just figuring out HOW to change someone’s status, and who will be affected, will take several months, I’m pretty sure.

If Joe wins, this EO has to be one of the early ones to be changed.

There are a handful of anti-federal employee EO’s that normally go back and forth depending on who wins. This will definitely be one of those; and the partisanship it will create is going to be devastating from here forwards.

[onetexan]

39. K&R. A small number is usually the unfortunate fallout with every new administration, but not one

with this magnitude. The Con is making it difficult for Biden's incoming admin. No worries, this is an easy one that they will sort it out, one more problem amidst a myriad of others.

[BlueIdaho]

28. It probably can't but it needs to go to court.

I hope those new fascist bureaucrats don’t get to comfortable - they will all be thrown out sooner or later.

[TwilightZone]

11. This guy is such a worthless piece of shit.

I'd like to know what tens of millions of complete idiots were thinking in 2016, including those who stayed home because purity.

[yaesu]

12. the problem is, they don't think, they react. nt

[TwilightZone]

13. True.

*sigh*

[Mr.Bill]

19. Especially the ones that are thinking

of doing it again.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. And to think, this is exactly why Garfield was assassinated.

A disgruntled office-seeker back when the Civil Service was entirely or almost entirely patronage jobs.

[elleng]

16. AHA, Schedule 'F'uck you'!

[Hoyt]

17. I suspect after trump leaves, there will be a lot of government employees who helped him

implement and manage his ill-advised policies who need to be relieved of duty. It really depends on how deep it goes.

To get us back to decent government, it's going to take more than just removing Perdue; Barr; Ross, Esper, DeVos, Brouillette, Wheeler, Azar, Carson, Pompeo, Mnuchin, etc.

[scarletwoman]

20. At least executive orders are relatively easy to undo.

I hope Biden's team is keeping a list of trump EOs to immediately reverse.

[sinkingfeeling]

21. How can this ape keep overriding laws and policies established by Congess

decades ago?

[Warpy]

22. Even the packed USSC won't buy this one.

This goes against a long history of de politicizing the Civil Service, much of it led by Republicans before they went crazy.

He's stepped on a real hornet's nest this time.

[aggiesal]

23. I have a feeling this is trying to get rid of the Postal Union ...

No bargaining capability and changing them to at-will employees.

Sounds super suspicious.

[Captain Zero]

34. yes, postal employees at supervisory levels??

like the ones who re-installed sorting machines DeJoy unplugged?
Or, is it maybe that Postal Board of Governors he wants to cement into place? He filled it with sycophants for privatization.

[aggiesal]

36. Words matter. I call it PROFITIZATION ...

If it's PROFITIZED, it will cost us more money.

I gave an example to a RW friend who wants to PROFITIZE everything.
I asked him to mail a letter to the house across the street using FedEx and find out how much it will cost.
It costs $11 at that time.

[warmfeet]

25. Executive orders can be negated on

Joe Biden's first day. Right after he takes the oath of office, in fact. EO's don't last - nor should they.

The tRump is making as big a stink as he can on his way out, but it won't amount to much. Even the worst fart dissipates in the wind. tRump is nothing more than a really bad fart - soon to be butt a memory.

[pnwmom]

29. But if Trump does steal the election, this will make him that much more powerful. nt

[pnwmom]

27. I bet this is all about firing ANTHONY FAUCI, civil servant for 40 years.

Along with every other policy-making civil servant with integrity.

[BlueIdaho]

30. He who lives by Executive Order,

Dies by Executive Order.

[paleotn]

31. Not worth the paper it's scribbled on.

Just the court fight could take years.

[Captain Zero]

35. Is this to go after the FBI and IC? I bet so. Anything he considers deep state.

I thought it was odd when Mr Law and order announced he wanted to break up the FBI.

[mackdaddy]

37. Would this change the rules so Trump could fire Dr Fauci?

I have read several articles that Trump can not fire him under the current rules.

So under this new executive order could Trump not get rid of Fauci and other career government employees that would not swear allegiance to the orange one.

https://www.pix11.com/news/coronavirus/president-trump-cant-say-youre-fired-to-dr-fauci