I was going to post about this in the Trump thread.
While on the surface it sounds like a great idea - lets make it easier to fire poor performers - who wouldn't be behind that?... when you look at the details, it's much different from that. Actually, new rules put in effect a couple of years ago already made it easier to fire poor performers... we've seen it first hand at work. What this really does is change the basis of what people can be fored for; those on this new Schedule F can be fored for NO reason other than there being a change of Administration, and the President or anybody in their cabinet wanting them gone. E.g. it makes thousands of people now present solely at the will of political appointment, regardless of actual job performance.
From the Exec Order:
Schedule F. Positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character not normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition shall be listed in Schedule F. In appointing an individual to a position in Schedule F, each agency shall follow the principle of veteran preference as far as administratively feasible.”
(ii) 5 CFR 6.4 is amended to read:
“Except as required by statute, the Civil Service Rules and Regulations shall not apply to removals from positions listed in Schedules A, C, D, E, or F, or from positions excepted from the competitive service by statute. The Civil Service Rules and Regulations shall apply to removals from positions listed in Schedule B of persons who have competitive status.”
The CSRD outlines how performance evaluation works, and what it means to be a poor performer.
Now maybe that dosn't sound so bad, b/c that's how many business are run too... except that this is an area where government needs to have levels of independence that businesses do not. it means there once applied to such a broad population (the definition is anyone with confidential access - which is a vast portion of the government... anybody who works o na contract, for example - or anyone whose work MIGHT be used to influence policy - which is pretty much any scientist, economist, technical reviewer, program manager, etc), then literally anybody who could be in a position to disagree with the President or provide any evidence contrary to what he wants, or even be any kind of whistleblower - can be fired simply for doing their job, even if they do it well.
Bluntly, it means that now there is no firewall between a person whose job is to provide facts, and the guy in charge who does not like those facts.
Imagine for a second that President Biden advocates for eliminating oil-based energy sources. A team of scientist run the numbers and say, "Um, if you do this is will destroy the economy and take 200 years and have no effect on the environment. See thsi data?" Then he can literally just fire that team, and get a new one. So what is that new team going to say instead? The same thing? No, they will be replaces with yes-men. This even could be applied to the Office of Government Ethics or the Congressional Oversight Commission, etc.
Or lets even say a guy like me, who has no interest or influence in politics, publushes a technical paper on the performance of some new medical device compared to the standard which does not work our well for the comany. Unbeknownst to me, the head of my agency, or his boss, or Biden's son, whoever happens to own stock in that company... I could be fired "just because" in retribution or prevent any more similar papers..
Most of Trump's personal faults and buffoonery are just media fodder and not really meaningful. However THIS is the kind of thing that should scare you. This is a move to directly change the government so that is it is only loyalists to him, who follow the President regardless of logic or what is right, and weed out anybody who would disagree or speak out.
I don't like using these kinds of terms... but it's hard for me to imagine a better example of flexing toward authoritarian power. No President I am familiar with has ever made this kind of step, and for good reason... because they understand the need and value for having independence between themselves and the people who provide facts that policy is based on. This is why, even though on paper I should be voting Republican, I could never support continuing this administration...
Her's a question - why wouldn't Trump be shouting from the rooftops about this order? You'd think it would be something he'd be super proud of...
