President-elect Donald Trump has revived efforts on one of his most controversial executive orders from his first term.
The creation of Schedule F, reversed by the Biden administration before it could be implemented, would pave the way for Trump to fire thousands of career civil servants and replace them with loyalists.
These federal employees, who are nonpartisan and serve regardless of presidential administration, have strict employment protections that ensure they can do their jobs without political influence.
Stripping these protections and appointing more political nominees within the federal workforce would grant Trump unparalleled influence over the basic functioning of our government.
In a new op-ed first published in U.S. News and World Report, CLC President Trevor Potter explains the dangers of a politicized federal workforce:
“The first Trump administration culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, which tested the strength of our system of free elections. The second one could aim to dismantle key elements of our constitutional framework. Maintaining a professional, nonpartisan civil service will be our first line of defense in upholding the system of checks and balances that places our future in the hands of the people – not in any political party or president alone.”