Federal civil service protections have shielded government workers from politically motivated firings since the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. The basic idea: career employees shouldn’t lose their jobs just because a new administration takes over.
President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday, June 3, that punches a significant hole in that system. About 8,000 high-ranking federal employees are being moved into a new employment category – one that lets the administration fire them for any reason.
The new category
Under the order, those workers lose the civil service protections that have long separated career government jobs from political appointments. They can’t point to job-performance standards or appeal processes the way other federal employees typically can. Gone.
It isn’t the first time Trump has moved in this direction. His first term ended with a similar executive order, which President Biden reversed on his first day in office in January 2021. Whether this version survives a legal challenge — or a future administration — is an open question the White House hasn’t addressed publicly.
The 8,000 workers affected are described as high-ranking civil servants, though the order’s precise criteria for who lands in the new category weren’t detailed in accounts of the signing. NPR reported the order Tuesday evening.
Critics of the move have argued that stripping civil service protections from career employees makes the federal bureaucracy more vulnerable to political pressure and less likely to deliver impartial government services. Supporters counter that unaccountable career workers have frustrated elected administrations for decades and that the president should have more direct control over the executive branch.
No timeline has been given for when affected employees will be notified of their reclassification.
Reporting by NPR. Read the original report.
