'McCarthyism all over again'? Plan to target federal workers prompts fears

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Roll Call

Posted October 30, 2024 at 4:33pm


Donald Trump has made many campaign promises, and replacing career bureaucrats with political loyalists is far from the loudest. The Republican nominee has drawn more attention for his pledges to round up and deport scores of immigrants, prosecute his rivals and deploy soldiers against the “enemy from within.”

But the worry of civil servants shouldn’t be ignored, some Democratic lawmakers say. “The idea of turning federal civil servants into political loyalists is frightening, whether a president is Democratic or Republican,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has helped lead the charge against a possible return of “Schedule F.”

Trump has vowed to revive that controversial plan, which he established during his presidency with an executive order. To rid the executive branch of “rogue bureaucrats,” he argues, he needs greater authority to hire and fire.

Issued in October 2020, the executive order defined Schedule F as a new employment category for federal workers in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating” positions, stripping them of their civil service protections and making them easier to fire. The order, which was revoked by President Joe Biden days after he took office, could have affected tens of thousands of career civil servants, according to some estimates.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2024/10/30/trump-schedule-f-plan-federal-worker-fears/

[COL Mustard]

2. Believe me, if Schedule F is resurrected

I'm gone before it can get to us. I have age and years so am still in the Federal workforce because I want to be. If that comes back I will no longer want to be.

I work in budget formulation and program management so while my work isn't "confidential" much of it is non-public and pre-decisional, so I imagine those of us who do that kind of work are in the crosshairs if he is reelected.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. I remember following that

(thankfully had already retired 2 weeks after he was inaugurated in 2017).

By December 2020, I read that OPM itself had already started implementing the Schedule F reclassification process for themselves, I *think* having reclassified something like 60% of their staff (from fuzzy memory) - but then had put a "hold" on that "pending a further review" that would last into 2021, basically putting the kibosh on it (after which Biden was sworn in).

[COL Mustard]

5. Your memory is spot on.

The timing was good for us. It'll be interesting to see how it'll get reinstituted if HE gets re-elected.

I'm lucky. I'm immediately retirement eligible so I could walk anytime and find something else. The ones I feel for are the younger people and those just starting out.

[mellow]

4. It's worse than McCarthyism -- it's political patronage and kickbacks

We'll end up paying taxes to Trump supporters to do poor jobs.

And those Trump supporters will support Trump with kickbacks from our taxes ...

[COL Mustard]

6. You're right. They'll do poor jobs.

I've been in my career for over 30 years. I know rules and regulations and policies, and I have experience at high levels. I also cost a fair amount. Bring in someone new who doesn't have the experience and our programs will be in jeopardy, and potentially impacting the troops.