Employee groups are warning that a Schedule F represents an abuse of power that would undermine the civil service. Image: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA coalition of unions and other organizations representing federal employees has said it is “critical” that Congress act this year to change the law to bar a future administration from reinstating the Trump administration’s short-lived Schedule F.
“Proponents of Schedule F are still at work, crafting plans that would jeopardize America’s professional civil service system. That is why we urge you to take this threat seriously, so no future administration can wield this abuse of power. Once enacted, Schedule F would quickly cause turmoil that is not easily remedied,” said a letter to congressional leaders also signed by outside experts on government.
An executive order from then-President Trump in late 2020 would have caused agencies to shift potentially tens of thousands of competitive service positions involved with making or carrying out policy into the excepted service. They would have lost many of their career protections and the positions could have been filled without competition.
President Biden revoked the order as one of his first actions on taking office but Trump and other Republicans have made reinstating the order a priority for a future GOP administration.
Doing so “could radically change how our government operates. Lack of competitive service protections could allow an administration to enact a wholesale change in government personnel,” the letter said.
“If government employees owe their jobs more to personal or political allegiance rather than merit, they will be more beholden to the party in power instead of the law of the land. That erodes safeguards for the rule of law within the institution of the executive branch, which could undermine the power of Congress and set the stage for greater inter-branch conflict. More substantial employee turnover from one administration to the next would also lead to loss of institutional knowledge and expertise within government,” it said.
The letter is the latest of a series of calls by opponents of Schedule F are urging action this year, given the possibility that Republicans gain control of one or both chambers of Congress for 2023-2024 and thwart the effort to change the law.
The House already has voted twice in favor of barring a future Schedule F by issuing an executive order, once as a free-standing bill and the other as an amendment to the defense budget bill that will be brought to a Senate vote after the elections; both votes were largely along party lines with support from only about a half-dozen Republicans. A similar bill is pending in the Senate but the best prospect for enactment seems to be as an amendment to the defense bill, which several Democratic senators have said they will offer during voting.
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