At a time when the American people closely monitor government and demand efficiency, stability, and professionalism, the Office of Personnel Management New base Stripping tens of thousands of federal employees of their legal rights and protections is pushing the federal workforce in the opposite direction.
The American Federation of Government Employees warned during the public comment period that the rule would open the door to political patronage, impair freedom of expression and association, and weaken enforceable protections against retaliation, especially for whistleblowers who uncover waste, fraud, abuse, and threats to public health and safety.
“This rule is a direct assault on the professional, nonpartisan, merit-based civil service and government services that the American people depend on every day,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelly. “When people see turmoil and controversy in Washington, they don’t demand more politics in government, they demand competence and professionalism. The OPM movement does the opposite. They rebrand career public servants as ‘policy’ staff, silence whistleblowers, and replace competent professionals with policy staff without any impartial, independent protections against politicization and arbitrary abuse of power.
The OPM final rule allows agencies to place employees on a schedule/job policy while emphasizing that jobs remain a “career” and are filled on a nonpartisan basis. But the practical impact is clear: Employees who move to the new schedule can be fired “at will” by political appointees or other supervisors without any of the procedural or appellate safeguards that have long protected the integrity of government operations.
“A professional civil service means nurses and doctors can advocate for patient safety, inspectors can report violations, cybersecurity experts can warn of threats, and benefits professionals can tell the truth about what it takes to provide services — without worrying about being punished for it,” Kelly added. “Converting tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of these professionals into at-will employees does not make the government more accountable. Rather, it makes it more vulnerable to pressure, retaliation, and political interference, which is exactly the opposite of what the public now demands.”
AFGE has successfully challenged this administration’s efforts to undermine the Civil Service and will continue to do so, including through an imminent judicial challenge to the final ruling filed with a coalition of unions and other plaintiffs. We also support bipartisan legislation in Senate and houseThe “Civil Service Rescue Act” would repeal this rule.
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