Good Government Coalition Calls for Schedule Policy/Career Propose Rule to be Rescinded

WASHINGTON—Last week the Make It Safe Coalition (MISC), a nonpartisan coalition fighting for whistleblower protections, sent written comments on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed rule to implement Executive Order (EO) 14172, “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service.” OPM’s proposed rule would implement a new “Policy/Career (P/C) schedule of federal employees” that would gut workers’ whistleblowing rights and protections. MISC calls for the proposal to be rescinded as the new rule would threaten a government that serves the people, not political parties.

Though the proposed rule claims to improve the civil service, Schedule P/C would chill whistleblowers from reporting wrongdoing and turn a meritocratic workforce into a political one. Government Accountability Project, a founding member of MISC, commented that, despite its name, this rule would:

• Undermine the civil service merit system established to prevent political patronage;

• Recreate a spoils system, undermining accountability, expertise, and public trust in government;

• Nullify the Whistleblower Protection Act;

• Revoke Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) protections, reopening the government to constitutional tort lawsuits;

And more.

Earlier this year, Government Accountability Project filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of D.C. challenging the Trump...

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