January 21, 2025
President Trump’s “Schedule Policy/Career” Executive Order Threatens Our Democracy
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, President Trump issued an Executive Order implementing a system that would reclassify certain nonpartisan civil servants as at-will employees, eliminating their federal workplace protections and potentiating the rise of partisan loyalists to apolitical positions. Government Accountability Project expresses serious concerns that this change would cancel the rule of law, erasing the merit systems’ check on Executive branch abuses of power in any administration, while also weakening oversight across government agencies. As the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization for almost 50 years, Government Accountability Project believes this Executive Order would replace federal employees of conscience with those more dedicated to party loyalty than the Constitution and the American people.
Part of this executive order is reinstating a 2020 order, “Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service.” This recent policy, rebranding Schedule F as “Schedule Policy/Career,” would allow the Executive Branch of any administration to bypass the framework of merit-based civil service essential to the integrity of the federal government. Federal merit system rights allow whistleblowers to be able to lawfully disclose concerns regarding national security vulnerabilities and other government breakdowns and abuses of power. Whistleblower protections and other rights...
In recent years, the intersection of personal injury law and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act has become a focal point of discussion in the legal community. Originally design...