Employee Protections Issue Debated

During recent House debate on a bill (HR-3521) to break the Immigration and Naturalization Service into separate law enforcement and naturalization agencies, an amendment was offered to exempt employees from the newly structured agencies from the laws governing federal employee job protections and appeal rights. While the amendment was defeated after opposition from civil service leaders of both parties, officials say the amendment is a sign of possible similar moves to come for other agencies that come in for special attention on Capitol Hill. They cite several recent precedents for chipping away at the “merit protection” laws, including the separate personnel systems created in 1996 for the Federal Aviation Administration and last year for the Transportation Security Administration.