Civil Service
Trump’s anti-union executive order has been blocked, again
A federal judge in California tailored his decision around the administration’s violations against labor groups’ First Amendment rights, avoiding thornier questions about presidential power.
Most fed-targeting provisions in Senate reconciliation bill don’t pass Byrd muster
The Senate parliamentarian over the weekend found that many proposals targeting federal workers and their unions violate the Byrd rule and would require 60 votes to advance in the chamber.
OPM’s new performance management rules are (mostly) spot on
COMMENTARY | OPM’s new performance management rules aim to end inflated ratings and eliminate pass-fail systems—but do they go too far in prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach?
OPM calls for quicker firings, more stringent performance standards
While experts agree that performance ratings in the federal government are inflated, the federal government’s HR agency’s proposal could exacerbate existing problems.
A time machine tour of civil service reform
COMMENTARY | From Washington to Trump, every era has redefined the rules of federal employment. If you could set the clock, which version of the merit system would you choose?
The Trump hiring plan wants to fix federal jobs, but it might just make things worse
COMMENTARY | The administration’s new approach promises faster, fairer hiring. But with old-school rules and political essay tests, it could actually make the process harder for everyone. There is another, better way.
Employee groups challenge ‘favorite EO’ question as agencies begin rollout
Experts warn that the Trump administration’s new essay questionnaire for most federal job applicants amount to a litmus test to politicize agency hiring.
Trump’s push for executive order loyalty risks undermining the federal workforce and the Constitution
COMMENTARY | Federal workers are being asked to prove their loyalty to Trump’s agenda, but history shows that when politics overtakes merit, government performance suffers.
Trump’s new civil service hiring plan: Merit or Meritless?
COMMENTARY | OPM's new Merit Hiring Plan isn't based on a new principle, but its enactment could make Schedule F look quaint, says the former vice chairman of the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Federal workforce advocates flood opposition to renewed Schedule F
With just a day remaining before the deadline to submit comments on the Trump administration’s proposed Schedule F regulations, the vast majority of more than 30,000 submissions were opposed to the measure.
Oversight Dems: Commerce reneged on probationers’ health benefits
Some recently fired probationary workers have also been unable to access their personnel records to show to insurance companies and prospective employers.
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Appeals court: Has Trump neutered the Civil Service Reform Act?
A three-judge panel on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals revived a lawsuit challenging the gag order on federal immigration judges in light of the president’s decision to fire the U.S. special counsel and members of the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Exclusive
Lynch: OPM’s hiring plan includes ‘blatant loyalty test’
The Trump administration last week unveiled its new ‘Merit Hiring Plan’ that in part quizzes job applicants about their favorite Trump policy or executive order.
OPM ‘merit’ hiring plan includes bipartisan reforms, politicized new test
The federal government’s HR agency on Thursday instructed agencies to cease collecting data on the demographic makeup of their workforces.
Agencies are violating the law on administrative leave, and taxpayers are paying the price
COMMENTARY | Administrative leave must be brief and directed toward furthering, not frustrating, agency operations.
Judges issue promising rulings for groups fighting Trump’s anti-union order
A federal judge in Kentucky tossed the Trump administration’s bid to secure a court victory prior to formally rescinding union contracts under the guise of national security, while another jurist sought new avenues to potentially block the March executive order’s implementation.
A judge has moved again to block Trump’s anti-union EO
Just weeks after issuing a preliminary injunction to block an edict aimed at stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of its collective bargaining rights, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman issued a similar decision as it relates to U.S. Foreign Service officers.
Congressional Dems urge rescission of Schedule F regulations
Though the Office of Personnel Management has estimated around 50,000 federal employees, or 2% of the workforce, would be stripped of their civil service protections under the controversial initiative, lawmakers warned a failure to define "policy-related” positions will cause far more to become at-will employees.
Exclusive
Connolly demands rescission of regulations reviving Schedule F
The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee warned that politicization of the federal workforce will lead to more instances of “incompetence” in government.
Judge: Trump’s national security reasoning for anti-union EO was 'pretext for retaliation'
Even when taken at face value, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the White House did not meet the evidentiary bar to prove that collective bargaining was incompatible with national security considerations for the majority of federal agencies.
